Free Republic

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2017, some 2 million currently undocumented immigrants will be eligible for certain federal benefits under the Obama administration’s executive amnesty. In a report released Thursday, CBO considers how changes to immigration policy could affect the federal budget. Its estimates are based on President Obama’s expanded deferred action programs to provide legal status to undocumented immigrants. The office estimates that between 2 million and 2.5 million undocumented immigrants will “have received approval for deferred action” by 2017. The CBO’s estimate is less than the 5 million the Obama administration estimated its executive amnesty would...

an Francisco (AP) -- A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that the U.S. government cannot deny health benefits to the wife of a lesbian court employee by relying on the 1996 law that bars government recognition of same-sex unions. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said that because the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutionally discriminates against same-sex married couples, the government's refusal to furnish health insurance to Karen Golinski's wife is unjustified. "The Court finds that DOMA, as applied to Ms. Golinski, violates her right to equal protection of the law ... by, without substantial justification or rational basis,...

  President Obama reiterated his support for legislation moving through the House and Senate that extends full domestic benefits to the unmarried partners of gay and lesbian federal employees.A University of Tampa student asked Obama about his position on equal rights for same sex couples, noting that he had expressed support for a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" during his State of the Union Address.Obama said he hopes Congress passes the legislation this year:I think that we've got to -- we actually have an opportunity of passing a law that's been introduced in Congress right now, and my hope...

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to announce that she will grant the domestic partners of gay and lesbian diplomats many of the same rights and protections as the spouses of heterosexual Foreign Service officers. But there are limits to what she can promise. Clinton can open the door to diplomatic passports, emergency evacuations, medical clinics and language classes, and she can offer preferential consideration for certain jobs. But she can't extend coveted benefits such as membership in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program to domestic partners. The State Department situation illustrates a challenge for agency heads who want to...

President Obama will sign a presidential memorandum on Wednesday to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, administration officials said Tuesday evening, but he will stop short of pledging full health insurance coverage. Mr. Obama, in an Oval Office announcement, is expected to offer details about which benefits will be provided. It is the most significant statement he has made on gay issues, and it comes as he faces intense criticism from several gay rights leaders over what they suggest has been a failure to live up to campaign promises in the first months of his presidency. Mr. Obama...

It’s been my opinion for a while that Fred Thompson could be the only top-tier major-party candidate I could comfortably support in the general election. That’s because all the other top-tier candidates have more or less an open-borders policy, which they try to conceal with fool-the-yahoos rhetoric. The latest e-mail from NumbersUSA’s Roy Beck supports my view that Thompson stands out for his immigration views: I find myself overwhelmed with a sense of thanksgiving that – after three decades as a journalist observing reckless, thoughtless federal immigration policies attack the lives of the American people – I can clearly see...