Free Republic

PHOENIX—Arizona's two U.S. senators said Thursday they are concerned about reports of a large number of sex-crime investigations being botched by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office during a three-year period ending in 2007. Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl issued a written statement involving the reopening of 432 sex-crime cases -- including dozens of alleged child molestations -- after the sheriff's office learned the cases hadn't been investigated adequately or weren't examined at all. "Victims of abuse not only deserve the respect of law enforcement, but their rights must also be protected throughout the criminal justice process," the statement...

Dear Chairman Bernanke, It is our understanding that the Board Members of the Federal Reserve will meet later this week to consider additional monetary stimulus proposals. We write to express our reservations about any such measures. Respectfully, we submit that the board should resist further extraordinary intervention in the U.S. economy, particularly without a clear articulation of the goals of such a policy, direction for success, ample data proving a case for economic action and quantifiable benefits to the American people. It is not clear that the recent round of quantitative easing undertaken by the Federal Reserve has facilitated economic...

They’ve only met once, but Sen. Jon Kyl is already threatening to quit the deficit busting supercommittee if the panel pushes more defense cuts. “I’m off the committee” if there are deeper cuts to the military, Kyl warned at a forum sponsored by several conservative think tanks, including AEI, the Foreign Policy Institute, and the Heritage Foundation. ...Kyl and others are also deeply worried about the so-called “trigger” in the debt-limit law passed last month. If the supercommittee fails to reach between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion in spending cuts, there will be automatic cuts in defense spending and Medicare....

0 inShare 0digg email print On June 18, 2010, Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl told the audience at a North Phoenix Tea Party town hall meeting that during a private, one-on-one meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office, the President told him, regarding securing the southern border with Mexico, “The problem is, . . . if we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support ‘comprehensive immigration reform.’” [Audible gasps were heard throughout the audience.] Sen. Kyl continued, “In other words, they’re holding it hostage. They don’t want to secure the border unless and until...

Who's been cozying up to the members of the new Congressional super committee? With the committee set to decide on a whopping $1.5 trillion in federal deficit reduction this fall, lobbyists and corporations are trying to figure out which industries are best connected to the 12 members of the new panel. You can bet that those connections will be pressed to the limit in coming months as companies and sectors scramble to ensure that federal spending they like and tax breaks they depend on aren't slated for elimination. As it looks at the new committee members, Wall Street may like...

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Here is a look at some of the top donors to election campaigns for the 12 members of the U.S. Congress named to a deficit-fighting "super committee." Known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, the panel is expected to be the most heavily lobbied body in Washington ahead of its Nov. 23 deadline for making recommendations on $1.5 trillion in additional budget savings. Unless specified, donations below combine members' campaign committees and leadership PACs (political action committees). Data is from www.opensecrets.org. SENATE DEMOCRATS Patty Murray of Washington state * Software giant Microsoft Corp...

The 12 lawmakers appointed to a new congressional supercommittee charged with tackling the nation's fiscal problems have received millions in contributions from special interests with a direct stake in potential cuts to federal programs, an Associated Press review of federal campaign data has found. The newly appointed members — six Democrats and six Republicans — have received more than $3 million total during the past five years in donations from political committees with ties to defense contractors, health care providers and labor unions. That money went to their re-election campaigns, according to AP's review. Supporters say the lawmakers were picked...

LOUISVILLE, KY – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday announced his appointments to the 12-member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction tasked with reducing the deficit by $1.5 trillion more than the cuts already identified in the Budget Control Act. McConnell appointed Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). “Chronic joblessness, out-of-control deficits and debt, and an unprecedented credit downgrade represent an historic challenge but also an historic opportunity for lawmakers in Washington to show they can work together on a plan that puts America back on the path to prosperity. All three of these...

Senator John Kyl: Tea Party Republicans remind me a lot of Senator Barack Obama who also refused to raise the debt limit.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia’s military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September. ... The Times reported last week that Shota Utiashvili, director of information and analysis for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the embassy blast and others in his country were the work of a Russian military intelligence officer named Maj. Yevgeny Borisov. “It is written without hedges, and it confirms the Georgian account,” said one U.S. official familiar with the U.S. intelligence report. This official...

<p>GOP Senators and Speaker Boehner set to cave and raise taxes. This is the start of the set up.</p>

(Washington, DC) -- Republican congressional leaders are reportedly agreeing to billions of dollars in revenue increases as federal deficit discussions continue. Republican Senator Jon Kyl announced the move today saying revenue increases don't necessarily mean tax hikes. On the Senate floor Kyl said, quote, "If the government sells something and gets revenue from it, that's revenue." He also suggested user fees for government services could provide additional revenue. He says all the revenue increases Republicans have agreed to amount to between 150 billion and 200 billion dollars.

“Budgets are about our priorities and our values,” says U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., in a recent newsletter. Johnson is certainly right, and as Congress and the president wrestle with an unprecedented budget crisis, it's becoming more and more apparent exactly what our elected officials do value. Particularly instructive: the showdown earlier this month over raising the debt ceiling. Before agreeing to raise the ceiling, congressional Republicans insisted on a rider eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood - a measure President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats said they would never allow. Neither side looked willing to back down, and we hovered...

Sen. Kyl actually said 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is abortions.

(CNSNews.com) – A Muslim civil rights activist told Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) that she stands by the advice posted on her Web site that tells Muslims not to speak with the FBI or other law enforcement personnel unless a lawyer is present. Kyl said he was “stunned” that Farhana Khera, president and executive director of Muslim Advocates, would “issue those kind of instructions,” given the connection between many domestic terror attacks and radical Islam and the importance of cooperation from American Muslims to help thwart those attacks. “I would think that Muslim Americans would feel a special obligation to...

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Phoenix is set to formally take a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. A ceremony is set for Judge Mary Murguia on Friday at the federal courthouse in Phoenix. Among those attending will be U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

In light of Jon Kyl's surprise retirement announcement last week, conservatives are presented with a unique opportunity to elect an unabashed conservative from the deep red state of Arizona.  The Republicans have super majorities in both houses of the legislature and control every statewide elected office.  As Arizona becomes more conservative, there is a plethora of solid candidates, which if elected, would serve as an improvement over Jon Kyl.  Once the Democrats destroyed Arizona's borders and opposed SB 1070, they were banished from electoral politics across the state.  Presumably, there would be no viable chance for the Democrats to turn...

CPAC presidential straw poll results aside, Karl Rove, former Senior Adviser to President George W. Bush says the GOP side of the 2012 presidential field is "a wide open contest." Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, Rove classified the race as "the first Republican contest in modern history in which there is no presumptive frontrunner." While Rove doesn't currently see a clear cut choice for the GOP, he did admit the nominee is likely to be a better known name, naming several examples including "Governor Romney, Sarah Palin and Governors Barbour, Daniels and Pawlenty." When asked how high profile political...

A Kyl-less Arizona U.S. Senate race is a bit like the open race in Texas. There is a wide, deep bench of ambitious Republican talent -- John Shadegg, Jeff Flake, state legislators who have now run the place with supermajorities. So this is significant -- the Club for Growth is already urging Flake to make the race. (Conservative donors have, for years, floated the possibility of Flake challenging or replacing John McCain, who isn't up again until 2016.)

Any discussion of who’s likely to succeed outgoing Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona needs to factor in the following: If Rep. Gabrielle Giffords wants the seat, it’s hers. The three-term Democratic congresswoman explored the idea of running for the Senate seat in the event of Mr. Kyl‘s retirement before she was shot Jan. 8 at a constituent meet-and-greet in Tucson. Her rehabilitation from a gunshot wound to the head reportedly is proceeding faster than expected. Mr. Kyl announced Thursday that he would not seek a fourth term in 2012. If Ms. Giffords decides she’s game for a Senate run and...

Breaking news on Fox, any idea why?

Sen. Jon Kyl will announce his plans to retire at a press conference in Arizona later today, a source confirms to POLITICO. half a minute ago via POLITICO API

wo GOP sources confirm to Fox that 3-term Senator Jon Kyl will announce his retirement at a noon news conference Thursday in Phoenix. The Arizona lawmaker is the No. 2 Republican in the Senate. Kyl, 68, served four terms in the House before winning a Senate seat. In 2006, he was named one of the 10 best senators by Time Magazine.

Poll: Kyl popular with GOP voters, but could be more conservative By Peter Schroeder - 02/05/11 11:38 AM ET Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) will likely not need to worry about a serious Tea Party challenge, according to a new poll from Public Policy Polling (PPP). However, the poll also indicates that even if a Republican lawmaker is popular with GOP primary voters, they still might prefer more conservative representation. And of the potential GOP nominees for president in 2012, Mitt Romney appears to have the inside track in Arizona. Kyl, who will have to run for re-election in 2012, enjoys...

The No. 2 Senate Republican said Monday that he didn't plan to seek a repeal of this weekend's vote to end "Don't ask, don't tell." Sen. Jon Kyl (Ariz.), the GOP whip, suggested that Republicans — or at least he himself — wouldn't look to undo the actions taken by Congress last week to lift the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military. "No, I don't have any plan in place," Kyl said on Fox News on Monday when asked if he had a plan to repeal the repeal of "Don't ask, don't tell."

Link only, per FR posting rules

John Kyl is proud of his compromise with Obama that has resulted in an agreement to extend all of the Bush tax cuts until the next election, except for the death tax. Those who are content with the death tax compromise are remembering the time when 55% of anything over $1 million was taxed upon death. They therefore are praising the new rate of 35% on assets above $5 million. The problem with it is that a 35% tax for dying is immoral, unconstitutional, and confiscatory no matter how you slice it. The reality is that most of these taxable...

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday that President Obama must reach a deal on extending the Bush tax cuts by Monday if a nuclear arms treaty has a chance of passing the Senate by the end of the year. “The deal on taxes has to be done very early next week, like Monday,” Kyl said. Kyl said if negotiators don’t reach a deal on the Bush taxes within a week “then you’re not going to have time to do START,” making a reference to the pending Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia. The Senate must ratify it with a two-thirds...

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said it’s crucial to ratify the new START treaty during the lame duck session and failure to do so would harm America’s image abroad. Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made his arguments in a forceful speech on the Senate floor late Monday. It was the second part of a joint effort with the Obama administration to push for a vote on the 28-page treaty in the Senate. Earlier in the day, President Obama told reporters he intends to make the START treaty a priority in a Tuesday meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional...

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans' ban on earmarks — money included in a bill by a lawmaker to benefit a home-state project or interest — was short-lived. Only three days after GOP senators and senators-elect renounced earmarks, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, got himself a whopping $200 million to settle an Arizona Indian tribe's water rights claim. Kyl slipped the measure into a larger bill sought by President Barack Obama and passed by the Senate on Friday to settle claims by black farmers and American Indians against the federal government. Kyl's office insists the measure is not...

Washington (AP) - A Republican lawmaker who holds pivotal sway on the fate of a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia called a proposal by the Obama administration aimed at winning his support "a step in the right direction." But Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona remained noncommittal on the New START Treaty and cast doubt on whether it could be considered for ratification this year. The administration is pushing to get enough Republican support for a vote before the Democrats' majority shrinks by six in January. In a meeting in Japan over the weekend, President Barack Obama reassured his Russian...

While there is much debate concerning how "big of a tent" the Republican Party should be concerning social issues, there is no excuse for any Republican to damage our national security and support unilateral disarmament.  The START treaty is a unilateral demand proposed by Vladimir Putin and its sole intent is to weaken our missile capabilities and our deterrent against Russia. When the treaty was first taken up in the Senate, I figured that it lacked 51 votes, much less the 67 super majority that is required for its ratification.  After all, who except for the fringe left would...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is offering to add billions of dollars in funding for the U.S. nuclear stockpile in a deal that it hopes will win enough Republican support for approval of a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia. White House officials outlined the proposal to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who is seen as the key to winning enough support to ratify the New START treaty, according to a congressional aide briefed on the proposal Friday. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment.

The White House is scrambling to strike a last-minute deal with congressional Republicans to save its new nuclear arms treaty with Russia from a lingering death. Obama administration officials are trying to win the support of the GOP point man, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, to schedule a ratification vote in the upcoming lame-duck session rather than next year, when Republicans will hold six more Senate seats. The treaty, which also awaits ratification in Russia, would lower each country's maximum number of long-range active nuclear warheads and set procedures for them to inspect each other's strategic nuclear bases. ...President Obama...

National Security: Think Moscow will violate the New START arms limitation treaty? A just-issued report says it never obeyed the first one. The motto of the Obama administration is blindly trust, don't verify and unilaterally disarm. You can forget about peace through strength, the Reagan doctrine that won the Cold War. Our policy is now peace through wishful thinking. If Neville Chamberlain and Jimmy Carter had a child, his name would be Barack Obama. The president is pushing ahead with what is called the New START Treaty to rid the world of nuclear weapons, but not those who would use...

(snip) Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, the Senate Whip, issued this response to the President's speech: "I do not agree with President Obama's assertion that we must pass comprehensive immigration reform in order to secure the border. I do, however, believe it is necessary that we secure the border before we try to pass comprehensive immigration reform." (snip)

Here is video of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs giving an answer that mocks and insults Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl about his assertion that President Obama told him in a one-on-one meeting that he would not secure the border because “you guys” (Republicans) won’t support Comprehensive Immigration Reform if we do. Gibbs has said Obama never made the statement, while Kyl has steadfastly stood by his account. Gibbbs tried to make out like Kyl had retreated from his assertion, and mocked Kyl for having three opinions on the matter. Actually, Kyl only said he meant that “the Left” is...

Earlier this week, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) caused a stir when he was quoted saying that President Obama personally told him the administration will not support stricter border enforcement until Republicans back broad immigration reform. The White House denied the claim. Now Kyl is saying that's not what he meant.

MILWAUKEE - Arizona Senator Jon Kyl has confirmed, Arizona is, in fact, on the border with Mexico. Kyl sent Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy West a letter in which he says, "You will be interested to learn that Arizona does indeed share a border with Mexico. I have enclosed a map for your convenience." Kyl goes on to urge West to, "actually read the Arizona law before forming an opinion about it."

It is commonly understood that securing the border would make it EASIER to grant citizenship to our current crop of illegal aliens. Few Americans want to kick long-time illegals out of the country, but people know that if the borders are not secured first then any talk of amnesty will increase the flood of illegal immigration as Mexicans jump across the border to get in on it and to get in line for future amnesties. That will make our illegal alien problem worse, not better, making amnesty a non-starter. Only if the borders are secured first does amnesty becomes viable....

Remember the refreshing moment when freshman congressman, Joe Wilson got so frustrated with the HC spewing of our President in his State of the Union address he yelled “YOU LIE?” Everyone was shocked! However, my antenna detected a deafening roar of approval from all the neighborhoods across our nation. Wilson was rude, out-of line and right on in his assessment. However, in this case Obama is saved by the fact that his falsehood wasn’t intentional. There’s no way he read the bill. OBAMA TO KYL: YOU LIE AND YOU KNOW IT! So here we are with the most transparent and...

In the “he said, he said” battle between Sen. Kyl and President Obama over whether Obama told the senator he purposely isn’t securing the border and wants it open for leverage, enter John McCain– and McCain is rushing to the side of Kyl. McCain stated “It was made very clear to me in the conversation we had, and I’m sure of the 39 other colleagues that were there, that the president basically conditioned his support for border security to overall comprehensive immigration reform”, as shown in the video.

As we await the result of the meeting between President Barack Obama and General Stanley McChrystal over the latter's comments about the former in a recent magazine article, the phrase "someone had to say it" comes to mind as it has many times in the past week. With virtually every issue facing the nation, the president's leadership and decision making abilities have been coming up short and, like the child who stated the obvious in the classic fable, someone had to say that the Emperor has no clothes.

From September, 2004, Obama speaking about securing the borders. "The trade off is going to have to be improved security along our borders." Audio.

HOLY KYL In 2004 Obama Advocated "Trading" Border Security for Amnesty http://thebcast.com/2010/06/22/uncovered-2004-audio-obama-advocated-trade-off-of-border-security-for-amnesty-plan/ Naked Emperor News

President Obama is refusing to secure the border until Congress reaches a breakthrough on comprehensive immigration reform, Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl said at a recent town hall meeting. "The problem is, he said, if we secure the border, then you all won't have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform," Kyl said, as the crowd in the room gasped loudly. "In other words, they're holding it hostage."

[“ ‘The problem is,’ Obama said, ‘if we secure the border, then you all won’t have any reason to support comprehensive immigration reform.’ In other words, they’re holding it hostage.” - Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) recounting a private conversation with President Barack Obama.] You’re right, Sen. Kyl. And I was one of the hostages. Sunday afternoon - Father’s Day - I was driving my four kids through Framingham to grab some ice cream and open my Dad’s Day gifts. We rounded a bend on Route 135 and were swamped by a sea of yellow-jerseyed chaos. Brazil had won a soccer...

Immigration: The president tells a border state U.S. senator that if we beef up border protection Democrats will lose the bargaining chip for comprehensive immigration reform. Forget national sovereignty — sue Arizona! As the Obama administration prepares to sue the state of Arizona to block its copycat enforcement of federal immigration law, Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl reveals that in a private meeting President Obama put his party's agenda above the nation's sovereignty. Last Friday, Kyl told the audience at a North Tempe Tea Party town hall meeting: "I met with the president in the Oval Office (regarding securing the...

I've had the video "Obama To Az Senator – “The Problem Is…If We Secure The Border, Then You All Won’t Have Any Reason To Support ‘Comprehensive Immigration Reform’" up as the featured video since yesterday and today the White House says the Senator is lying....because Obama is committed to Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Say what? This morning, a White House spokesman told ABC News that Kyl is lying. “The President didn’t say that and Senator Kyl knows it,” communications director Dan Pfeiffer told ABC. “There are more resources dedicated toward border security today than ever before, but, as the President has...

Amazing video. Arizona Senator John Kyl says Obama told him if the Fed secures the border, Arizona would have no reason to support comprehensive immigration. "In other words," Kyl says, "they're holding it hostage." You have to hear this one.