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Republican Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem has faced criticism from both sides of the political spectrum on Sunday for telling state residents “don’t wait until Monday to celebrate Native American heritage” in an official statement. Noem only referred to October 11 as Native Americans’ Day, and omitted any reference to the date’s long national significance as Columbus Day.“The second Monday in October has been recognized as a federal holiday since 1968. In 1990, South Dakota was the first state to do things a little differently than the rest of the nation,” Noem said. “In South Dakota, we recognize Monday,...

Sen. Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) shot to stardom because of her progressive values and ability to win in a red state. Sinema made a surprising move when she joined a handful of Republican Senators and Joe Manchin (D-WV), who wrote a letter to President Donald Trump encouraging him to implant a pilot program designed to weed out fake asylum seekers. The goal is to deport those who aren’t truly in fear of their lives and have valid asylum claims without adding to the immigration backlog. "This pilot program would apply to families who aren't claiming 'credible fear,' which of course is...

King Corn has clearly noticed not only Cruz's rise, but his "dangrous" talk about ending the RFS and kicking the legs out from under the government gravy train on ethanol. Now they're striking back. Supporters of the Renewable Fuels Standard, seen as key to the future of Iowa's corn-based ethanol production, are ramping up criticism of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, saying he's the only presidential candidate from both parties who has refused to either tour a biofuels plant or meet with industry lobbyists. Critics of Cruz, whose has been rising in polls in a crowded field of Republican candidates, held...

Lawmakers have failed in past attempts to rename North America’s highest mountain, but a new proposal may have a better chance this year under a Republican Congress, according to an aide to an Alaska lawmaker who is resurrecting the effort. U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan have introduced a bill to give Mount McKinley its historical Alaska Native name. The Alaska Republicans announced a Senate bill Wednesday to formally call the 20,320-foot mountain by its Athabascan name, Denali, KTUU reported. The bill comes after previous efforts by Murkowski failed. …

Gov. Chris Christie is touting his relationship with President Barack Obama as his re-election campaign enters its final days. The Republican governor said Sunday morning that he has a "good working relationship" with the president. But Christie says he's willing to criticize Obama if he's done something poorly, just as he would anyone in public life.

Republican Rep. Jeff Denham will break with his party and back a broad immigration reform proposal supported by Democrats. The California congressman told Univision that he would become the first Republican co-sponsor of an immigration bill written by House Democrats that would bolster border security and provide a pathway to citizenship for many of the 11.7 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. “Yes, I will be the first Republican coming together on this full bill dealing with all aspects of immigration,” he told Univision anchor Jorge Ramos in Spanish during an interview that will air on “Al Punto” this...

Immigrant-rights activists say New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie reversed himself Saturday and endorsed giving illegal immigrants in-state college tuition rates, and said he will try to get the issue through his legislature in a lame-duck session. Mr. Christie, who is up for re-election in November, is also seen as eyeing a bid for the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination, but his support for in-state tuition could complicate that. “We need tuition equality for everyone in New Jersey,” the activists said the governor said in a speech to the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. Afterward, the activists said, Mr. Christie told...

Idaho Republican Rep. Mike Simpson was for chipping away at Obamacare during the continuing resolution fight before he was against it. On Tuesday, the GOP congressman told a Capitol Hill publication that he supports voting for a continuing resolution to stop the partial government shutdown — even without provisions defunding, delaying or stopping parts of President Barack Obama’s health care law. “I’d vote for a clean [continuing resolution] because I don’t think this is a strategy that works,” Simpson told Roll Call. “I think the strategy that works is on the debt ceiling.”

Issuing a one-year moratorium on "fracking," Gov. Chris Christie today issued a conditional veto of S-2576, recommending changes to the legislation that balances protecting New Jersey’s environment and drinking water and encouraging cleaner energy alongside the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. As currently written, S-2576 would permanently prohibit fracking in New Jersey, a drilling technique used for the exploration or production of natural gas, even as concurrent studies on the practice are underway by the federal government and no known natural gas deposits necessitating use of the fracking process have been proposed for development in New Jersey. “I...

Democrats hoping to move forward with legislation other than tax cuts shouldn't look to centrist Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to break the logjam. Collins said again on Friday that, while she would vote with Democrats to end the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, she wouldn't do so until a debate over tax cuts has been resolved. "Once the tax issue is resolved, I have made it clear that if the Majority Leader brings the Defense Authorization bill to the floor with sufficient time allowed for debate and amendments, I would vote to proceed to the bill," she said in...

# Brown: "I accept the findings of the report and support repeal based on the Secretary’s recommendations" 6 minutes ago via web # Sen. Scott Brown, R-MA, said in a press release that he supports a repeal of DADT. 7 minutes ago via web

So answer this questions for me. This Spring I voted for what I thought was a Conservative Republican for Governor of Texas. Now I find out that Gov. Perry has joined the Democratic Governors of California, New Mexico, and some governors of Mexico in opposing Arizona's SB1070 I cannot decide whether to vote for a Rino or a Democrat who is not afraid of his political affiliations. Since I haven't voted for a Democrat since 1964, should I just not vote for anyone this fall?

Kirk says he opposes Ariz. immigration law May 18, 2010 (CHICAGO) -- Republican Illinois Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk said Tuesday he opposes Arizona's new immigration law, taking a stand contrary to the conservative wing of his party. Kirk's stand comes in the wake of the flap at Highland Park High School where the girls' basketball team was stopped from attending a tournament in Arizona. [Excerpt from http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/politics&id=7448812 ]

Voting for Amnesty [Mark Krikorian] Sen. Vitter's amendment to strike the amnesty section from the bill was defeated this evening, but it might be an informative vote nonetheless for concerned citizens contacting their senators over the Memorial Day break. It was the first vote focused just on the question of whether we should give legal status to illegal aliens; it lost 66-29. Republicans voting against it — i.e., specifically voting for immediate amnesty — were Bennett, Burr, Chambliss, Coleman, Collins, Cornyn, Craig, Domenici, Ensign, Graham, Gregg, Hagel, Hutchison, Isakson, Kyl, Lott, Lugar, Martinez, McCain, Murkowski, Smith, Snowe, Specter, Stevens, Voinovich,...