Free Republic

Amnesty, and particularly citizenship, for people who broke the law to get here is bad policy because it rewards law breakers and advantages them over law abiders. It’s also very costly, as a study released by the Heritage Foundation demonstrates, The Fiscal Cost of Unlawful Immigrants and Amnesty to the U.S. Taxpayer: Executive Summary Unlawful immigration and amnesty for current unlawful immigrants can pose large fiscal costs for U.S. taxpayers. Government provides four types of benefits and services that are relevant to this issue: Direct benefits. These include Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, and workers’ compensation. Means-tested welfare benefits. There...

Denver Public Schools has quietly put the rest of its controversial variable-rate bonds with swaps on the market to sell as fixed-rate debt. Five years after issuing a 30-year, $750 million school pension bond that turned into a financial quagmire for the district, DPS is selling $519.8 million in fixed-rate, refunding certificates of participation (COPs), set to price during the week of April 15, according to an announcement Friday from Fitch Ratings. ... DPS "fixed out" — or issued debt at a fixed interest rate — half of the original $750 million in debt in 2011, and paid nearly $42...

**SNIP** “While I do support many of the items in this proposal – for example, extending unemployment insurance, the wind production tax credit and tax cuts for most Americans – I believe they should have come in the context of a comprehensive deficit reduction package,” Bennet said. “Without a serious mechanism to reduce the debt, I cannot support this bill.” “Putting the country on a sustainable fiscal path and bringing our debt under control is incredibly important to our economy and our standing in the world and is a top priority for me,” Bennet continued. “I remain committed to continue...

Shaul Mofaz, Kadima chaiman responded to remarks made by Bennett to Channel 2 during an interview in which he said, "If I would receive an order to remove a Jew from his house and expel him, me personally, my conscience would not allow it. I would ask the commander for an exemption." Mofaz reacted, saying, "There is no place in Israel, not in the regular army and not in the reserve army, to disobey orders. One's political views should not affect his ability to perform a task. An evil spirit calling for disobedience in exchange for a handful of votes...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu implied Saturday night that he would not include the Jewish Home party in any potential coalition in the next Knesset. In an interview with Channel 2, Netanyahu addressed Bennett's recent claim that if he were in the IDF and ordered to expel Jews from their homes, he would ask to be relieved from duty, saying, "This is very serious. The future of the country rests on the army and executing orders. I'm saying a simple thing: Whoever is adamant about refusing orders - will not sit in my cabinet." .....

Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett was slammed on Thursday evening when he said during a television interview that he would not be willing to evict Jews from their homes. Bennett, who served in elite IDF units including Sayeret Matkal and continues to serve to this day as a reservist, said during an interview with the "Mishal Cham" program on Channel 2 that if he ever receives an order to evict Jews, he would ask his commander to release him from his position. Bennett said he would be willing to serve time in prison over this issue. "If I receive an...

Colorado’s two Democratic senators sided with the White House on Wednesday when they voted to affirm what one GOP senator called “the centerpiece of President Obama’s war on coal.” The rule, which proponents say is necessary to limit harmful emissions from coal-fired power plants, but that opponents say will destroy jobs and cause energy prices to skyrocket, narrowly survived an attempt at repeal yesterday. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet opposed a measure that would have overturned the controversial EPA rule. The measure failed on a 46-to-53 vote yesterday. ... Udall and Bennet joined seven other Senate Democrats from major coal-producing...

A storm is not a good time to be at the wheel of a ship and a worldwide economic disaster is not a good time to be at the wheel of the ship of state. Hard times are supposed to bring great men to the fore, but instead we have some of the sorriest men in history trying to find the wheel, sleeping off a bender in their cabins or debating whether a wheel even exists. Obama is bad, but he's not exactly up against rival statesmen. After parading around with a one-man cult of personality, launching international projects with...

WE BELIEVE it’s vital to maintain the integrity of our election system. That’s why we support laws that require photo IDs to be presented at the polling place. Carrying a photo ID has become a part of American life. You can’t cash a check, board a plane, enter a federal courthouse or even buy full-strength Sudafed over the counter without one. Yet it was disconcerting when 16 Democratic U.S. senators, including Colorado’s Michael Bennet, recently asked the Department of Justice to review new voter ID laws in six states. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder they claimed that...

A spokesman for Western Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.) e-mails: We can confirm that there was a threat against Senator Bennet's office and that the FBI working with the Capitol Police have arrested the individual responsible for the threat. Per their advice, we are referring inquiries related to this matter to the Capitol Police. Michael has full confidence in the law enforcement agencies handling the case and remains focused on his job serving the people of Colorado

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has presided over the Senate for the past four years and we’ve just learned today that his current Lame Duck session is “RIGGED.” Color me surprised! A hot mic picked up Senator Michael Bennet’s words… “It’s all rigged. The whole conversation is rigged. The fact that we don’t get to a discussion before the break about what we’re going to do in the lame duck. It’s just rigged.” Welcome to our world Senator Bennet. We’ve known for quite a while that our government apparatus is rigged. Take for example, the Food Safety Bill which...

Appointed U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet will be elected to the U.S. Senate after pulling ahead of challenger Ken Buck this morning. Long after most Coloradans -- including the candidates and their supporters -- had gone to bed, returns from Denver and Boulder moved Bennet past Buck and into the lead, 47.5 percent to 47.1 percent. A recount would be required if the difference between the two candidates' vote totals is less than one-half of 1 percent of the highest vote total, or about 3,900 votes based on current tallies. Bennet leads by nearly 7,000 votes with an estimated 30,000 still...

In a rather disjointed and impromptu call, Sen. Michael Bennet finally joined the Peter Boyles program on the local morning talk radio circuit, asking to remind voters how important the election was and to get out and vote, while the host (Boyles) repeatedly asked him why he had not been available to talk on the program since his appointment to the U.S. Senate in January 2009. Via CompleteColorado.com, who grabbed the audio soundbite, the entire segment lasts less than three minutes. Boyle’s presses Bennet on his failure to appear on the show: “I actually didn’t know that ‘why now,’ just...

Michael Bennet tries to explain why he welcomed Obama in CO during primary but not during general: Video

Colorado’s U.S. Senate race second in the nation in terms of the total spent by outside groups in support or opposition of the candidates... outside groups have spent $3.61 million in the Senate race that pits Democrat Michael Bennet against Republican Ken Buck. That total trails only the $3.65 million spent by outside groups in the Pennsylvania Senate race between Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Joe Sestak. Among those who’ve plunked down the most money are the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has spent $1.67 million going after Buck; while American Crossroads, a group backed by former Bush political advisor...

Ken Buck and Michael Bennet had a debate the other day. Ken Buck posed a simple question to Bennet: Did you vote for $1.5 million for an airport named after Jack Murtha that serves no more than 20 passengers a day? Bennet’s answer? Yes, “but it certainly was not of interest to me.” Buck replies, “I think $1.5 million is certainly of interest to all of us.” Link to YouTube of 40 second clip:Ken Buck Gets the Truth From Michael Bennet on His Concern for Earmarking Link to YouTube video of ABC expose of Murtha airport boondoggleABC News: Murtha Airport...

Andrew Romanoff entered the presidential robo-calls/appearances derby today, with a late entry from former President Bill Clinton. Clinton also brought up a fairly unexplored topic in this campaign, mentioning Romanoff as “the top-line candidate.” Tuesday’s results in Colorado may well turn up an indicator of how much Democratic candidates want to be seen with Obama for the general election campaign.

The top Republican contenders continue to hold modest leads in the race for the U.S. Senate in the toss-up state of Colorado, with county prosecutor Ken Buck now running slightly stronger than former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton against the top Democratic hopefuls. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Colorado finds Buck earning 48% support against incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennett who gets 39% of the vote. If former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff is his Democratic opponent, Buck leads by a narrower 47% to 42% margin. A month ago, Buck posted a 46% to 41% lead over...

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet’s campaign said today that it dismissed a summer intern who allegedly told a person seeking to talk to the senator about pending legislation that she could secure a one-on-one meeting for a $2,400 donation. “With a donation of $2,400 or more,” Garofano allegedly wrote, activists pressing for the fuel-standards bill “can schedule a one-on-one hour long meeting with the Senator.” Hosting “an event for $5,000 or more,” the email said, would offer “a better chance to lobby Michael.” Bennet, a Democrat, was appointed to his seat last year and is now running his first-ever political campaign....

Throwing a wrench in the gears of Democrats pushing the candidacy of Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, Bill Clinton today endorsed Bennet's primary challenger, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. The move solidifies the fact that Clinton and Democratic leadership in Washington are not always on the same page. The White House is so firmly in support of Bennet that it discussed other potential jobs in Washington with Romanoff that he could explore instead of running for Senate. "Colorado is far better off today because of Andrew Romanoff's leadership. America will be too," Clinton writes in an email to supporters titled,...