Free Republic

“Fellow Americans' -- that association has meant more to me than any other. I lived and died a proud American.”So read part of Senator John McCain’s final statement, as the 81-year old Senator from Arizona joined the eternal pantheon of patriots this past weekend. After lying in state for several days at the U.S. Capitol and Arizona Capitol, he will be buried at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated from over a half-century ago before serving our nation as a decorated war hero.Senator McCain has been in our public square for so long it will be difficult to imagine...

For its sixth political town hall of 2017, CNN will host Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday, Mar. 1 at 9 p.m. ET. The McCain-Graham event is scheduled for the day after President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash will moderate it before a live studio audience at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "McCain, Senate Armed Services Chair, and Graham, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, will discuss key issues facing the country including America’s place on the world stage, U.S. Russian policy,...

Donald Trump might be unwilling to support Arizona Sen. John McCain's re-election bid, but Ohio Gov. John Kasich thinks McCain deserves a lifetime appointment to the Senate. "Honestly, I don't even think they ought to have an election. They ought to tell McCain, as long as you want to be in the Senate, you can have it," Kasich told WGN radio. "He's just the greatest guy."

"The USA Freedom Act has not made us less safe at all." Republican Sen. Mike Lee on Wednesday slammed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for attacking Texas Sen. Ted Cruz over the USA Freedom Act at Tuesday night's GOP debate. Lee, who along with Cruz sponsored the bill that halted the National Security Agency's bulk collection of phone metadata, said Rubio was wrong to say the bill made America less safe. "Look, Marco Rubio has been attacking Ted Cruz on the USA Freedom Act, for his vote in favor of the USA Freedom Act, and he's been doing so by suggesting...

Retired Air Force Colonel Martha McSally today announced the members who will serve on her Transition Team. The diverse group of experts and community leaders from Pima and Cochise Counties will provide input on hiring decisions and help set up McSally’s Arizona Congressional offices to ensure a smooth transition to office. “It’s a privilege to work with so many talented and accomplished individuals from our community to get our office up and running,” said McSally. “Above all, our office needs to work for the people of Southern Arizona. Whether it’s constituent services or representing the views of Southern Arizonans in...

March 9, 2013 McCain: Are You a "Wacko Bird" Like Rand Paul, Justin Amash, and Ted Cruz? Nick Gillespie courtesy Benjamin Lee's Twitter Feed"Wacko Birds" is the new "Jerk Store."That is, it's the sort of comedic comeback that reflects far worse - and oh-so-sadly - on its creator than its intended target.During a recent tirade, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) denounced Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) as "wacko birds." Reports the Wash Post: “They were elected, nobody believes that there was a corrupt election, anything else,”McCain said. “But I also think that when,...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said his home state could be "up for grabs" in the 2012 presidential election, due in large part to the growing numbers of Hispanic voters. "The demographics are clear that the Hispanic vote will play a major role in national elections," he said on CNN's "State of the Union." However, higher numbers of Hispanic voters does not guarantee Obama an edge according to McCain, who said his inability to meet some campaign promises on immigration makes that voting bloc competitive. The most recent GOP candidate went so far as to say New Mexico, Colorado, and even...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said misspent and wasted U.S. funds to both Iraq and Afghanistan, where some taxpayer dollars have gone to the Taliban, are "disturbing." "What is disturbing was the recent inspector general's report that some 20 to 30 billion dollars both in Iraq and Afghanistan have been wasted and misspent, and in the case of Afghanistan in some cases the money has actually gone to the Taliban. Now that is not an acceptable use of the taxpayer's dollar," said McCain on Fox News's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren" Thursday. McCain clarified that he was unsure of...

AUGUST 15, 2011 Immigration Audits Drive Illegal Workers Underground BY MIRIAM JORDAN MINNEAPOLIS—In 2009, Alba and Eugenio were making almost twice the federal minimum wage, plus benefits, cleaning a skyscraper for a national janitorial company. With two toddlers, the Mexican couple enjoyed relative prosperity in a tidy one-bedroom duplex in a working-class neighborhood here. Late that year, federal agents audited employee records of ABM Industries Inc., forcing it to shed all the illegal workers on its payrolls in the Twin Cities. Among them was the couple, undocumented immigrants who had worked at ABM for more than a decade.

Veteran Sen. John McCain has had enough with tea-party-aligned lawmakers who have vowed not to vote to raise the debt ceiling before passage of a constitutional balanced budget amendment. The Arizona Republican, the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee, described their position as “foolish,” “deceiving, even bizarro,” given Americans’ anxiety about the sliding stock market, a halt on hiring and the possibility of higher interest rates related to the looming default.

Mr. McCain mocked Tea Party-allied Republicans in the House for believing — wrongly, he said — that President Obama and Democrats will get the blame for a default if Republicans refuse to increase the nation’s debt ceiling. By that flawed logic, “Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced budget amendment and reform entitlements and the Tea Party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth,” he said, quoting a Wall Street Journal editorial. “This is the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell into G.O.P. nominees,” he jeered, referring to two losing Tea Party...

LIBERTY COUNTY, Texas -- Dozens of bodies have been found in a mass grave in Liberty County, officials said Tuesday. The Liberty County Sheriff's Office said 25 to 30 bodies were buried at the intersection of County Roads 2049 and 2048 between Hardin and Daisetta. The bodies are those of children, according to preliminary reports. The FBI was called in to assist the investigation.

(snip) During the comments, talk turned briefly to whether McCain would support former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin - his running mate during the 2008 presidential election - in a bid for the White House in 2012. McCain said it is all hypothetical at this point, as Palin has not officially announced her intention to seek the Republican nomination. "I'm proud of Sarah Palin. I'm proud of the campaign that she ran and she invigorated our campaign," McCain said. "I think she will be a very formidable candidate if she decides to seek the nomination of the Republican Party." The New...

Washington (CNSNews.com) - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), when talking to Capitol reporters, said that Fox News makes it difficult for him to garner support for his stance on immigration reform, which includes a “pathway to citizenship” for illegal aliens already living in the country. The senator, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said that Fox News using the word “amnesty” during the 24-hour news cycle has hindered support for his position on reforming the U.S. immigration system, which lawmakers on both sides say is broken. “In today’s world, it’s very hard for bi-partisan agreements to be formed,” said Graham, “because...

U.S. Sen. John McCain said Wednesday that he’s “seen this movie before” when it comes to federal claims of a secure border between the U.S. and Mexico. In a Senate hearing, McCain criticized the Department of Homeland Security for not keeping up with escalating drug and smuggling cartel violence that has resulted in mass graves and executions of Mexican officials. McCain, R-AZ, told Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano he remembered the U.S. giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in 1986, “when we said we’d secure the borders.” Today, millions of illegal immigrants enter the U.S. at Tucson. McCain said:...

Former staffers for defeated California candidates Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina have an urgent message for fellow Republicans: Their political future depends on Latino voters, and the Obama administration may be providing an opening. (snip) Mr. Wilson, managing partner at Wilson-Miller Communications Inc. in Sacramento, said that if the topic of immigration arises, Republicans should avoid anti-immigration rhetoric meant to stir up the conservative base. "We're on safe ground when we say, 'We have to secure our borders and get a guest-worker program, then work on a pathway for citizenship for people who are already here'—and then quickly pivot off...

TUCSON - Senator John McCain joined four Republican state representatives in Tucson today to tour the U.S.-Mexico border and discuss security and the federal government's role in securing the U.S. borders. McCain says there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure Arizona's borders are secure. He is upset that the federal government plans to withdraw National Guard troops from the border on June 30, he thinks this is too early and there is work that still needs to be done. "Every place we go, and we've talked to the people on the border, and here...the work...

(snip) Having a better relationship with Obama allows McCain to have the president's ear on his key priorities, while Obama can gain a clearer picture of what is happening on the Republican side by talking to McCain. While there was no doubt they have differences on many policy issues, Obama and McCain discussed areas where common ground between Democrats and Republicans might be found. McCain spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said they discussed the situation in the Egypt and the Middle East, immigration reform and border security, free trade and ways to end pet spending projects called "earmarks" that are tucked into...

Congress should take up work on comprehensive immigration reform once the U.S. borders are secure, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Wednesday. McCain, a longtime proponent of comprehensive reform who had tacked right in his race for reelection last year, said that an immigration deal could be an area of compromise between Republicans and Democrats. "Once we get the border secured — and we can get the border secured — I would look forward to working on comprehensive immigration reform," the 2008 Republican presidential nominee said on NBC's "Today" show. The Arizona senator had in the past favored legislation that would...

What does he want? Revenge. For what? Being born. This is the way famous gunslinger Doc Holliday answers equally famous lawman and good friend Wyatt Earp’s inquiry - in their depiction in the movie Tombstone - into why their sworn enemy, Johnny Ringo, is such a misanthrope. Sadly, this description would be equally accurate in explaining the actions of another Arizona transplant filled with endless rage: Senator John McCain. I first encountered the seething side of McCain when I was writing my 2008 book, The Real McCain, which was critical of him while pointing out a then-controversial fact, one no...