Free Republic

Proposal Uses Private Equity to Keep Government from Buying Mortgage Assets, Assures Wall Street Won’t Get Rich While Taxpayers Get Stuck with Trillion Dollar Bill September 27, 2008 Washington, DC – Rep. Darrell Issa, a businessman and entrepreneur before coming to Congress, today offered a new proposal to protect the economy without a taxpayer-funded bail out of Wall Street. Under Rep. Issa’s plan, private investors would provide the capital for a Rescue Fund through the purchase of government issued Guaranteed Recovery Bonds. The Rescue Fund would be managed by the Treasury Department and would offer troubled financial firms interest accruing...

The California congressman who called the Sept. 11 attacks "simply" a plane crash ran for cover Wednesday under a barrage of ridicule from fellow Republicans, first responders and victims' families. San Diego GOP Rep. Darrell Issa was under siege for suggesting the federal government had already done enough to help New York cope with "a fire" that "simply was an aircraft" hitting the World Trade Center. "That is a pretty distorted view of things," said Frank Fraone, a Menlo Park, Calif., fire chief who led a 67-man crew at Ground Zero. "Whether they're a couple of planes or a couple...

Inland Rep. Darrell Issa is throwing his political clout and significant financial support behind a state ballot initiative to change the way California's electoral votes are cast in presidential elections -- a measure some say could decide the next president. The wealthy congressman, who single-handedly jumpstarted the 2003 recall of Gov. Gray Davis, said Tuesday he has agreed to support the measure both financially and by providing access to his own fundraising network, including his substantial e-mail lists. Issa, R-Vista, declined to say how much money he would give, describing his contribution as fluid. Dave Gilliard, a Republican consultant with...

Cindy Sheehan, Tom Hayden, and the Hate America Left meet with pro-Ba'athist members of the Iraqi parliament to discuss “peace.” TO FIND PEOPLE WHO HATE AMERICA AS MUCH AS THEY DO, the Fifth Column Left had to go halfway around the world to meet with Iraqi political leaders who call terrorism “honorable national resistance” and say foreign jihadists “are guaranteed Paradise” – and at least one of whom has ties to militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. By the end of the trip, the American leftists would echo these sentiments. Somehow most of the media – occupied with interminable coverage of Hurricane...

NORTH COUNTY ---- Rep. Darrell Issa, a Vista Republican who has been considered in some circles a relative moderate on immigration matters, has joined a caucus of anti-illegal immigration lawmakers. Issa, R-Vista, announced last week that he had joined the Immigration Reform Caucus, a predominantly hard-line Republican group founded in 1999 by conservative members of Congress opposed to illegal immigration. His move comes at a critical time, as the U.S. Senate continues debating a controversial immigration reform bill that would pave the way to give millions of illegal immigrants a chance to become legal residents. Immigration analysts on both sides...

A U.S. defense analyst and author says Americans should be very concerned about some radical Muslim paramilitary compounds that have sprung up around the country and that are surrounded with "No Trespassing" signs. Hear This Report Greg Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), says the compounds are often populated with former U.S. convicts who were converted to Islam in prison. These convicts, he contends, are connected to a Pakistani organization. "Islamberg in New York, Ahmedabad in Virginia, and Holy Islamville in South Carolina, and so on are places which have been formed largely by Jamaat ul-Fuqra," Copley...

A visiting U.S. congressman held talks with President Bashar Assad Thursday, a day after a congressional delegation headed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sparked controversy by meeting the Syrian leader. U.S. President George W. Bush has rejected direct talks with Damascus and criticized Pelosi for her visit. Commenting on Bush's criticism, California Republican Darrell Issa said the president had failed to promote the necessary dialogue to resolve disagreements between the U.S. and Syria. "That's an important message to realize: We have tensions, but we have two functioning embassies," Issa told reporters after separate meetings with Assad and his foreign...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein yesterday challenged assertions by a former top Justice Department official that Carol Lam was fired from her job as U.S. attorney in San Diego because of a mediocre record in prosecuting immigration cases. During a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the California Democrat produced a recent letter from a top federal immigration official in San Diego praising Lam's record in combating immigrant smuggling. ... “It is a real surprise to me that you would say here that the reason for her dismissal was immigration cases,” Feinstein told Sampson during the hearing. ... In an interview, the...

On April 6, 2006, a Florida Republican lambasted former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam during a House Judiciary Committee meeting. The rebuke earned nary a peep in the San Diego media. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was on Capitol Hill testifying before the group of lawmakers. While the media focused on Gonzales' lengthy testimony about a secret wiretap program, U.S. Rep. Ric Keller, R-Fla., took Lam to task. "Here's some straight talk," he told Gonzales. "The pathetic failure of your U.S. Attorney in San Diego to prosecute alien smugglers who've been arrested 20 times is a demoralizing slap in the face to...

There was a perception that the less experienced attorneys assigned to the team that processed all immigration and border cases needed more support and instruction before, during and after court proceedings and during plea negotiations. In June 2006, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to express concerns about Carol Lam's performance in office:“It has come to my attention that despite high apprehension rates by Border Patrol agents along California's border with Mexico, prosecutions by the U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of California appear to lag behind. . . . It is my understanding that the...

HITTING BACK: The Inland lawmaker says there's no evidence the firings were political or criminal. Inland Rep. Darel Issa on Wednesday described growing scrutiny into the recent firings of eight U.S. atorneys as a "political witch hunt" by Democrats bent on linking the terminations to the prosecutors' investigations of Republicans. "I see no evidence it (the atorneys' firing) was political," Issa, R-Vista, said by telephone between votes on the House floor. "They want to imply there was criminal behavior when there isn't even a criminal alegation." On Wednesday, a House Judiciary subcommitee looking into the firings authorized subpoenas for top...

On Bill Maher http://tv.yahoo.com/real-time-with-bill-maher/show/35187; Talking about IF "Islam is a religion of peace" Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali (author of the book "Infidel") said bluntly, no!Islam is NOT a religion of peace! Mr. Webber asked: "Isn't it just the radical Muslims"? Mrs. Ali: They are just following Islam, radicalism [Islamlofascism] IS Islam. Bin Laden quotes simple Koran. All his talk about dominating the world with/in [radical] Islam, has it's source IN Islam. Rep. D. Issa of California jumped in and said: "For Years, the Christians & Muslims have lived in peace side by side... even in the holy-land Israel, "palestine"... Ms....

Jeeni Criscenzo, Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives 49th California District seat currently held by Republican nominee Darrell Issa, wrote in a blog entry earlier this month from Amman, Jordan of her support for the so-called insurgency in Iraq.Criscenzo went to Amman with leaders of the anti-American group Code Pink and Sixties activist Tom Hayden to conspire with a group of anti-American Iraqi parliamentarians.On August 6, writing in her campaign Web site blog which is linked on the Daily Kos blog, Criscenzo said, "It is important to distinguish between the militia, or death squads and the resistance,...

Bringing San Diego to the forefront of the immigration debate, House Republicans will hold field hearings on the issue Wednesday at an Imperial Beach border patrol station. Two opposing immigration bills from the House and Senate will head for negotiations after the hearings senators and representatives are holding across the country this summer. San Diego area representatives have been heavily involved in the debate, some authoring sections of the House bill. Measures proposed in the House bill, H.R. 4437, include: making illegal presence in the country a felony, building 698 miles of fencing along the border, requiring employers to use...

‘$500m on table’ if Beirut complies The United States is reportedly making a fresh attempt to strike a behind-the-scenes deal to neutralize Hizbullah, offering the government half a billion dollars if the resistance is dismantled and Syria pulls its troops out of Lebanon. The offer is reportedly being conveyed by Darryl Issa, a Republican congressman for California, and Democrat Robert Wexler during a visit to Beirut Friday, the daily As-Safir said Thursday. The two congressmen will also travel to Damascus to discuss the offer with Syrian officials, the paper said. The daily quoted sources in the US Congress as saying...

congressman long at odds with the local U.S. Attorney's Office over illegal-immigration enforcement released a document yesterday citing poor morale at the Border Patrol's El Cajon station because most human smugglers are not prosecuted. Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Vista, said the allegations were included in an “internal memo” written by an agent who said his colleagues were demoralized because only 6 of 289 suspected immigrant smugglers caught by agents based at the station were prosecuted in the fiscal year ending in September 2004. “This is an area of gross under-prosecution,” Issa said. His office would not say who wrote the memo...

VISTA ---- Members and supporters of the San Diego Minutemen gathered outside U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa's office Wednesday to protest any immigration reform that would include amnesty and guest worker programs for illegal immigrants. Only a few demonstrators had arrived by the rally's noon start time. By 2 p.m. the number had increased to a dozen. Several waved American flags, others held up homemade signs. "We're not here to protest Darrell Issa," said rally organizer Jeff Schwilk, wearing a matching baseball cap and T-shirt for the Minuteman Project, a national border watch group. "We're here to send a message to...

Rep. Darrell Issa (R) is calling on California conservatives to unite behind embattled Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) as the congressman lays the groundwork, Republicans say, for a future statewide race of his own. In a letter sent earlier this month to party activists, Issa asks Republicans not to violate Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, forbidding Republicans from attacking Republicans. And he voices strong opposition to efforts to rescind the state party’s endorsement of Schwarzenegger at its Feb. 26 convention in San Jose.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, announced his candidacy Friday for a spot in the House Republican leadership being vacated by one of the contenders to replace Tom DeLay as majority leader. Issa said he will seek the post of Republican Policy Committee chairman, among the lower spots in the eight-member GOP leadership team but one that would give him a seat in meetings with the House speaker, majority leader, whip and others. "I think California needs to be represented in the national policy debate," Issa said in an interview. "So much of what needs to be heard in...

CARLSBAD – Rep. Darrell Issa said Wednesday morning that he was endorsing former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray and will serve as his campaign chairman in the race to replace disgraced Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham in the 50th District. Pointing out that his district, the 49th, is touched on all sides by the 50th, Issa, R-Vista, said he needs a partner in Washington D.C. who has the experience and integrity to get work done on behalf of the North County. "When you are looking for someone who is trusted and proven and who has been in the arena and has been...

WASHINGTON – Rep. Darrell Issa's bankrolling of the recall drive against then-Gov. Gray Davis two years ago was allowable under a sweeping new federal campaign finance law, federal regulators announced yesterday. Although the Federal Election Commission asked its lawyers to investigate Issa's financial involvement in the 2003 recall – indicating there was "reason to believe" the Vista Republican broke the law – the panel based its final ruling on a new clarification of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, better known by its congressional moniker, the McCain-Feingold law. Issa, a millionaire who ignited the successful recall of Democrat Davis by contributing...

  On November 4, 2005, Jewish Defense League (JDL) member Earl Krugel was murdered in an Arizona prison.  It was only his third day into a 20-year sentence at the Federal Correction Institution in Phoenix.  The 62-year old Navy veteran and former dental technician was exercising when another inmate came up behind him and hit him over the head with a concrete block, killing him instantly.  Why a loose cement block was just hanging around the exercise yard is still unknown.  Authorities have been fairly tightlipped so far, but the investigation has reportedly focused on a white supremacist inmate.   While this...

The photos that line some U.S. Border Patrol station walls are like "Wanted" posters that help agents recognize suspected human smugglers among those caught sneaking across the border. Each display, Rep. Darrell Issa said, is a wall of shame, evidence that human smugglers are too often released to smuggle again rather than held to face criminal charges and a prison cell. Most Inland members of Congress have joined Issa in calling enforcement of immigration laws too lax. Issa blames the guidelines that federal prosecutors use to manage the number of cases they will bring against suspected immigrant smugglers. But some...

Republican California Congressman Darryl Issa just appeared on the Los Angeles John and Ken show, and explained that he did not say that Tom Tancredo of Colorado should be thrown out the Republican Party over Tancredo's support of Minuteman Jim Gilchrist. Gilchrist, a member of the American Independent Party is participating in a congressional race against Republican John Campbell. Gilchrist and Campbell are vying for the seat vacated by Chris Cox, who resigned to become chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Issa told the hosts that what he had said was an observation that the California Republican Party has...

A leader of the Jewish Defense League who admitted his role in two criminal conspiracies to manufacture and detonate bombs at a mosque and a Congressman's field office was recently sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, the statutory maximum for his two counts of conviction. Earl Leslie Krugel, 62, of Reseda, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew. In sentencing the JDL member, Judge Lew recognized that Krugel's actions contributed to an atmosphere of ethnic hatred in the period following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Krugel pleaded guilty in 2003 to conspiring to bomb...

OPPOSING IMMIGRANTS ... AND REPUBLICANS. Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) -- a 2008 White House hopeful and the leading Hill advocate of imposing a radical crackdown on immigration into the US -- broke with the GOP in the upcoming California special election for the congressional CD-48 seat recently vacated by SEC Chair Christopher Cox (R). Although ten of the 17 candidates -- including frontrunners State Senator John Campbell and former Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer -- are Republicans, Tancredo formally endorsed an ideological ally. Tancredo endorsed American Independent Party nominee Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the "Minuteman Project" of citizen border patrols. "I...

LOS ANGELES - A Jewish Defense League member was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison for his role in a plot to bomb a mosque and a Lebanese-American congressman's office. During the hearing, Earl Krugel, 62, apologized and said he was a changed man. But U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew described Krugel's actions as "promoting hatred in the most vile way" and sentenced him to the maximum under Krugel's plea agreement. Lew said Krugel had failed a polygraph test five times during the investigation. "You are not that changed a person. You have more to give," the judge...

Imagine the manager of the San Diego Padres requiring outfielders to remain in one location in the outfield while playing. The other teams would immediately figure out the weakness in the Padres’ strategy. Although outfielders might catch a few balls in the first innings, eventually, they would only catch balls hit right to them. Now, instead of telling the Padres’ manager to stop restricting the outfielders’ movement in the field, imagine the owner of the Padres concluding the outfielders were ineffective and no longer needed in the outfield. In an effort to improve the team, the owner tells the manager...

Twenty Years after TWA 847, No Lessons Learned By Debbie Schlussel Twenty years ago, this week, Hezbollah terrorists hijacked TWA Flight 847, and trampled Navy Diver Robert Stethem to death. Stethem's only crime was being American. The hijacking and murder was among the first televised Islamic terror attacks against Americans, unfolding on TV screens over 17 days. Twenty years later, disturbing kowtowing to Hezbollah terrorists shows we've learned nothing from Stethem's brutal murder at the hands of Islamic terrorists. On September 11, 2021, will it be worse? On June 15, 1985, Hezbollah hijackers seized the TWA flight in Athens. Identifying...

See http://politicalvanguard.com/index.php?id=scorecard for full report. I'll post the hot story of the week and a summary here... Hot stories of the Week: After Sen. Abel Maldanado (sic) opened his Controller's Monday, stories started circulating that Republican Assemblyman Keith Richman would move from the Treaturer's race where his trails Simon by 40+ points to the Controller's race. Tony Strickland would benefit from that move because that would mean two moderates - Richman (voted against Arnold's budget because it did not include tax increases) and Maldonado would be fighting it out against a lone conservative. Republican candidates (or potential candidates) for Senate...

Security sources report abrupt withdrawal of all Syrian commands in Lebanon including key military intelligence chief General Ghazaleh.Lebanese secret service chief General Raymond Azar flees to Paris. Internal Security Forces head General Ali al-Hajj about to quit.New response scenarios may be cooked up by opposition leader Jumblatt, Assistant Secretary of State Satterfield and US Congressman of Lebanese decent Darrel Issa (R-Vista, San Diego County)Assad secretly deploys joint Iranian-Syrain units.

Hold Their Feet to The Fire America needs your help. Illegal aliens and their friends in Congress are trying to derail legislation that would strengthen our borders and keep illegal immigrants from getting driver's licenses. It's time to come to Washington, D.C. and tell Congress in person what you have been telling them over the phone and in letters and faxes. This is your chance to tell Congress directly — we're tired of America selling out to cheap labor and corruption.  Now's the time to join Roger Hedgecock, top rated radio talk show host in San Diego, California (KOGO/AM...

McClintock, Issa jockey for new campaign in '06Lieutenant governor attracts pair if governor, Boxer seek re-electionBy Timm Herdt, therdt@VenturaCountyStar.comDecember 17, 2004Nearly a year and a half before the primary, two of the key figures in the California recall election are engaged in a political game of chicken to dissuade the other from attempting to become Gov. Arnold Schwarz-enegger's unofficial running mate in 2006. Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks, who stamped his name on the minds of California voters by remaining a candidate for governor throughout the recall campaign, already has formed a committee and is raising money for a...

In the past 2,000 years there have been numerous descriptions of Jesus of Nazareth, but the image of an Arab Jesus – “the first Palestinian fedayin who carried his sword” – as depicted by Yasir Arafat at a sideshow of the United Nations in 1983 was probably the most grotesque. Present at his first press conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on September 2, 1983, I heard the words from the UN simultaneous English interpretation of his spoken Arabic: “We were under Roman imperialism. We sent a Palestinian fisherman, called St. Peter, to Rome. He not only occupied...

What is the story on Bodansky? As the Director of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the U. S. Congress, it seems like he would have some credibility. He set forth some pretty articulate explanations of where Saddam's WMDs may be (Syria) and that al Quada did receive support and training from Iraq. Is he just pushing a book or does he know what he's talking about? And if any of what he is saying is true, why hasn't anyone else picked it up? I know that the "mainstream" media would totally ignore it, of course, but...

<p>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Rep. Darrell Issa, who catapulted to fame and controversy after bankrolling the recall drive against Gov. Gray Davis, will not seek the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, a spokesman said Tuesday.</p> <p>"We had every reason to be certain that if Darrell had chosen to seek the nomination for senate, it would have been his for the asking," said Issa spokesman Jonathan Wilcox. "But he is very committed and determined in his congressional work and has found it to be a passion and a purpose."</p>

<p>BLANTYRE, Malawi  — Five men suspected of running charities that funneled money to Al Qaeda have been arrested in Malawi and were to be deported from the southern African nation, intelligence officials said Monday.</p> <p>The men, all foreigners, were arrested Sunday night in the southern city of Blantyre in a joint operation involving the CIA and Malawi's National Intelligence Bureau, the intelligence officials said.</p>

Police in the Malawi city of Blantyre have fired tear gas at Muslims protesting against the arrest and deportation of five suspected al-Qaeda members. The al-Qaeda suspects are now in US custody The Muslims, coming from Jumm'ah, or obligatory Friday prayers, chanted slogans against the government and their own association, the Muslim Association of Malawi (Mam). They accused the government of losing sovereignty by secretly handing the suspects over to American CIA agents, despite a High Court ruling ordering the government to charge or release the men. They also accused their association of failing to protect fellow Muslims, despite the...

With Arnold Schwarzenegger poised to be sworn in as governor next week, California Republicans are turning their sights to the next big prize: the 2004 U.S. Senate race, where Democratic incumbent Barbara Boxer is seeking a third term. But while many Republicans would like nothing more than to topple the outspoken and proudly liberal Boxer, the magic formula of star power and GOP unity that elected Schwarzenegger has so far eluded this contest. Just three little-known Republicans have entered the race and top party strategists are hoping to coax in some bigger names. "Barbara Boxer is America's worst senator....

<p>Between May and August of this year, Congressman Darrell Issa ran for governor of California, spending more than $2 million on the recall effort and then his own short-lived candidacy. Most of the $1.7 million he spent on the recall went to hiring professional staff to gather signatures to get the recall proposition on the ballot. His own quixotic gubernatorial bid was over almost before it began. So what does the representative from Vista, Calif. have to show for his trouble?</p>

To my fellow conservatives: By now you may have heard that I have endorsed Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor. I have received a variety of responses to that decision, some good, and some bad. I understand them all, and I believe each of you need to know the reason I made this decision. It was not lightly made, and the result of a lot of discussion, thought and prayer. I take my role as a conservative in the legislature seriously, and my endorsement means something to me. I don't give it away lightly, and I do so only when I believe...

September 27, 2003 Darrell Issa and Howard Kaloogian, the recall's original dynamic duo, have parted ways over Tom McClintock, the right-wing Republican on the ballot to replace Gov. Gray Davis. This North County rift reveals the stress Republicans are under as the recall gets down to its short, hysterical strokes. As you know, Rep. Issa, R-Vista, bankrolled the recall's signature drive, figuring that he might be able to get elected governor on the rebound – and on the cheap. But long before the Issaman cameth, Kaloogian, a termed-out North County assemblyman, had done a ton of heavy lifting for the...

Republican California gubernatorial recall candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger picked up two key endorsements on Thursday and is expected to receive another one on Friday. Bill Simon, a conservative businessman who was the Republican nominee in the 2002 California gubernatorial race as well as one of the candidates in the October 7 recall election before dropping out, has announced he is officially endorsing Schwarzenegger's candidacy. "I am here to endorse Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor," Simon told a group of supporters at a Schwarzenegger town hall meeting. "I think Arnold Schwarzenegger is the right man to be governor of California." While Simon made...

Nothing follows at this time, headline only.

In an interview on KFI 640 AM, Rep. Darrell Issa stated that he would be endorsing one of the top Republican candidates for governor within 24 to 48 hours of the debate scheduled for tonight. He further stated that he would be endorsing the candidate very actively, by campaigning for the candidate, i.e. ads, radio interviews, money, etc.

In an interview on KFI 640 AM, Rep. Darrell Issa stated that he would be endorsing one of the top Republican candidates for governor by next Monday. He further stated that he would be endorsing the candidate very actively, by campaigning for the candidate, i.e. ads, radio interviews, money, etc.

<p>The GOP congressman whose money put the recall on the ballot urged Republicans Monday to keep Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in office if neither Arnold Schwarzenegger nor Tom McClintock pulls out of the race by election day.</p> <p>"If two major Republicans remain on the ballot, I'd advise you to vote 'no' on the recall," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista (San Diego County), who spent more than $1.6 million of his own money to help gather signatures to recall Davis.</p>

<p>LOS ANGELES -- Rep. Darrell Issa, the man who largely bankrolled the effort to qualify the recall election for the ballot, on Friday said one of the two leading Republican candidates must leave the race, but he stopped short of saying which one.</p>

<p>Arnold Schwarzenegger hoped to take the state GOP convention by storm Saturday with a major rally and speech, as he aimed to win the minds of party activists whose hearts might belong to his conservative opponent.</p> <p>Schwarzenegger was to attend a morning rally complete with live music outside the convention hotel, then woo the faithful with a lunchtime address aimed at casting him as the successor to California Republican leaders such as Ronald Reagan and former Govs. Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian.</p>

<p>TEMECULA, Calif. -- So often is California State Senator Tom McClintock asked about when he will quit the governor's race and "release" his supporters to back the leading Republican candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger, that he no longer even waits for the question. "Let me just say this," he tells this interviewer, unprompted. "I mean what I say. I do not break promises. I'm in this race to the finish line. That is a promise."</p>