Free Republic

If it looks like a dog, smells like a dog and barks like a dog, it probably is a dog no matter how its owner tries to disguise it. Or, as Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo,, recently observed "There is a little more lipstick on this pig than there was before, but it's most certainly the same old pig." THe "pig" referred to by Tancredo is a bipartisan immigration reform bill introduced on May 12 by Republican Senator John McCain and Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. The bill, if passed, would clear the way to allow many of the estimated...

Two items: [1] From Laurie Mylroie's "Iraq News" Newsletter - Tue, 17 May 2005 20:03:39 -0400 Subject: Michael Rubin, Prior Isikoff Use of Faulty Source From the list of Michael Rubin, previously at DoD and now at AEI (May 17, 2005): This was not the first time Michael Isikoff has used faulty or fabricated sources. In reporting the myth that Doug Feith’s office created its own intelligence unit, he relied on Karen Kwiatkowski, who associated with the Lyndon LaRouche movement. Kwiatkowski said on tape that she was Isikoff’s chief source. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s Report on the U.S....

Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) reintroduced his military on the border bill on April 28 with 34 original cosponsors. H.R. 1986 would authorize the Secretary of Defense to assign members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps to assist the Department of Homeland Security in the performance of border protection functions.

Another election, another smashing setback for the Democratic insurgency. How long will it take for the party of George McGovern, Sidney Blumenthal and Edward Kennedy to recover from bloody Sunday? Ol' George and young Sid have long been fla-fla, but for Ted the huge turnout yesterday was particularly devastating. Last week he thought he'd be hailed as the new Chamberlain, the next Benedict Arnold, the white Jesse Jackson, the Irish Jacques Chirac, the trans-gendered Jane Fonda. Alas, he remains the Crown Prince of Chappaquiddick, a perennial bottom feeder and all-purpose lout. "Johnny, we hardly knew ye," a hanger-on once said...

Does Ted Kennedy Have Alzheimer’s? You might think I am joking but there really can not be many other reasons for what is coming out of his mouth. The man is just doing to much damage to his own party for this to be a well thought out attack on Bush. His rhetoric is so unbelievable that especially in context with the history of his family; he should know better. When he calls Iraq a quagmire he is of course relating it to Vietnam which is ironic because his brother did have a quagmire on his hands in Vietnam. It...

While most of his Democratic Senate colleagues say they will vote to confirm attorney general nominee Alberto Gonzales despite their misgivings about his role in shaping Bush administration policies for treating terrorists, Sen. Edward Kennedy says he is "leaning against" confirmation. Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," the Massachusettes senator said he was dissatisfied with Gonzales's answers under questioning - that the administration will not tolerate torture while at the same time defending his claims that the protections of the Geneva Conventions do not apply to alleged terrorists, the Washington Post reported. "He had conversations with the Justice Department; he...

Democrats, reeling from the Republicans' success at courting churchgoers, are focusing new attention on a religious and political anomaly: Jim Wallis, one of the few prominent left-leaning leaders among evangelical Protestants. At the start of the Congressional session, Senate Democrats invited Mr. Wallis to address their members at a private session to discuss issues. A group of about 15 House Democrats invited him to a breakfast discussion about dispelling their party's secular image. And NBC News has enlisted him to appear as a guest during its inauguration coverage opposite Dr. James C. Dobson, one of the most prominent evangelical conservatives....

On May 13, 2004, Senator Edward Kennedy berated Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemning "disaster after disaster" in U.S. Iraq policy. Well before the Abu Ghraib revelations, Kennedy has sought to transform Iraqi freedom from a philosophical and strategic issue into a partisan debate, without regard either to reality or result. On April 6, Kennedy called Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam." On March 5, 2004, Senator Edward Kennedy, speaking before the Council on Foreign Relations, took the president to task for allegedly exaggerating the threat posed by Iraq: "The evidence so far leads to...

AP Exclusive: Kerry Blocked Law, Drew Cash 35 minutes ago By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A Senate colleague was trying to close a loophole that allowed a major insurer to divert millions of federal dollars from the nation's most expensive construction project. John Kerry (news - web sites) stepped in and blocked the legislation. Over the next two years, the insurer, American International Group, paid Kerry's way on a trip to Vermont and donated at least $30,000 to a tax-exempt group Kerry used to set up his presidential campaign. Company executives donated $18,000 to his Senate and...

The Kerry campaign is looking for a way to ease Sen. Edward Kennedy out of their regular rotation of officially sanctioned surrogates after a series of embarrassing incidents involving the senior Massachusetts senator. First, Kennedy was caught by Boston reporters mocking Kerry at a private, supposedly closed-to-the-press fundraiser in Boston, where Kennedy was doing a poor imitation of Kerry begging Kennedy for help and support. Then Kennedy and his Senate staff leaked word that Kennedy was being asked by Boston officials to help bail out the troubled Democratic convention in Boston, where local unions are protesting their lack of financial...

Congress Ignored Reports of Prisoner Abuse Phil Brennan, NewsMax.com Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Democrats howling for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for not informing them of reports of prisoner abuse in Baghdad are ignoring the fact that concerned parents of an accused soldier informed 16 members of Congress - top Democrats such as Senators Hillary Clinton, Edward Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller - and the governor of Virginia of the burgeoing scandal as far back as February 26th of this year. None of these people acted to disclose the detailed information contained in the letters. While the...

<p>WASHINGTON -- In an election-year slap at filibustering Democrats, President Bush sidestepped Congress yesterday and installed Judge Charles Pickering of Mississippi to the federal appeals court after a battle filled with racial, religious, and regional argument.</p> <p>Bush elevated Pickering by recess appointment, simply putting him in office while Congress was out of session. Such appointments, bypassing confirmation, are valid until the next Congress takes office, in this case in January 2005.</p>

<p>When Arizona schools superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan and a group of predominantly conservative educators launched the Education Leaders Council (ELC) in 1995, their proclaimed goal was to upset an educational establishment long dominated by the Democrats and left-leaning teachers unions.</p>

Rep. Patrick Kennedy: 'I don't need Bush's tax cut. I have never worked a [bleeping] day in my life'....

<p>WASHINGTON - Amid people carrying "Stop the Hate," "Don't Hate! Legislate," and "Congress Must Act" signs, Republican and Democratic senators came together Tuesday to show their support for hate-crime legislation.</p> <p>Standing with the senators were Judy Shepard, the mother of a University of Wyoming student who was murdered because of his sexual orientation, and Trev Broudy, who was severely beaten with a baseball bat after hugging a male friend.</p> <p>For full article, click here.</p>

Kennedy, Liberal Republicans Urge Protection for Homosexuals By Lawrence Morahan CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer May 05, 2003 (CNSNews.com) - With the support of liberal Republicans, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has reintroduced legislation that would expand federal hate crime laws to include crimes motivated by a victim's "sexual orientation." Co-sponsored by Republican Sens. Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Gordon Smith (Ore.), Kennedy's bill would add the new classification to existing laws that target violence because of race and religion, in effect granting special protection to homosexuals as a class of people. The bill, titled the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Tuesday proposed a $400 billion Medicare overhaul that would encourage seniors to switch to subsidized private insurance to obtain comprehensive drug coverage and other benefits. Democrats criticized the plan as a "radical prescription for dismantling Medicare," and pushed competing, more costly proposals aimed at bolstering benefits within the context of the existing Medicare program. The battle over Medicare, with 40 million participants and a financial structure ill-prepared for an influx of baby boomers, is likely to be a central domestic issue in the 2004 presidential and congressional elections. "A modern Medicare system must offer...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Details emerged on Friday of a tough U.S.-drafted Security Council resolution that would give Iraq less than six weeks to disclose any weapons of mass destruction and hold the threat of military action over its head. President Bush, facing resistance in Europe and at home to his avowed policy of forcing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power, repeated his willingness to act without U.N. approval if necessary. "Our last choice is to commit our troops to harm's way, but if we have to, to defend our freedoms, if we have to, the United States will lead a...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 - Liberal Democrats, led by Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, voiced reservations today about giving President Bush a free hand to attack Iraq before a new, tougher set of United Nations inspections is put into effect. While their objections could influence the wording, scope and timing of a Congressional resolution, those reservations are not likely to affect the outcome of any Congressional vote. It still appears likely that there will be at least 75 or 80 votes in the Senate to give the president the authority to attack Iraq. At least one high-ranking Democrat, Senator Carl...