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Law enforcement officials from the Arizona counties hardest hit by illegal immigration say they want U.S. troops to help secure the border, to prevent the deaths of more officers at the hands of criminals who enter the country illegally. “We’ve had numerous officers that have been killed by illegal immigrants in Arizona,” Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Monday at a Capitol Hill news conference. “And that shouldn’t happen one time.” Babeu said the violence in Arizona has reached “epidemic proportions” and must be stopped. “In just one patrol area, we’ve had 64 pursuits -- failure to yield for an...

Washington, D.C. – In advance to the Homeland Security field hearing on border security in Phoenix on Monday, April 20, 2009, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) made the following statement: “The unfortunate reality is our Southwest border remains unsafe due to the drug cartels, and now more than ever, we must focus first and foremost on securing our borders,” said Senator John McCain. “The current plan being developed by the Administration and organized labor calls for immigration reform that does not adequately address either securing the border or a legal temporary worker program and is a plan I cannot support,”...

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain has no illusions about the 2008 White House race. "God bless them," McCain said Thursday at the Heritage Foundation when reminded of the tens of millions of people who voted for him last year. "Over 50 million people voted for me and Sarah Palin - mostly for Sarah Palin," McCain said to an eruption of laughter. But "there was a sizable majority of the other party returned to Congress. And, elections have consequences. Elections have consequences. And these consequences we are seeing now in full display."

More than $9 trillion -- in taxpayer dollars -- has been pledged, committed, lent or spent by the federal government in response to the economic crisis. Some say that if the economy continues to deteriorate, trillions more might be necessary to prevent another Great Depression. Yet no one has investigated how this crisis happened. That is irresponsible. A comprehensive investigation is essential to prevent this from happening again.

Less than two weeks from the inauguration that he hoped would usher in his own presidential administration, Senator John McCain announced the formation of a new political action committee that will work to promote Republican causes. Borrowing a slogan from his campaign, Mr. McCain is calling the committee, “Country First,” and it is likely to help lay the foundation for his 2010 re-election bid. In an e-mail message to supporters on Wednesday, Mr. McCain described it as a “grassroots organization” that would take up the challenge of defining “our Republican ideals and message” and support G.O.P. candidates. “With your help...

WASHINGTON (CNN)—Arizona Senator John McCain is adopting a major 2008 campaign slogan for a new political action committee designed to support not only his own planned re-election run in two years, but help him put his stamp on the rebuilding of the Republican Party. The formation of the “Country First” PAC is to be announced Wednesday, two sources familiar with the plans tell CNN. One of the sources called it the “first official step” of the GOP Senator’s re-election campaign. McCain made it clear not long after losing the presidential election that he intended to seek re-election to the Senate...

According to the Chinese calendar, 2008 was the “Year of the Rat.” But that’s a completely inadequate monicker for the year of Eliot Spitzer, Jeremiah Wright, Chris Matthews, Rod Blagojevich, Somali pirates, the Obama boom and the McCain bust. 2008 wasn’t the year of the Dark Knight. It was the year of the Joker: why so serious? What could be funnier than the possibility of Al Franken in the US Senate? Ok, ok. Banking Queen Barney Frank is, and maybe Sen. Caroline Kennedy would be. And if those images aren’t bizarre enough for you, how about the facts that --...

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The Sarah Palin backlash—or comeback—is underway. Misused by the McCain campaign, then dissed by anonymous McCainiacs as a haughty diva, those who think the senator and his staff are to blame are starting to speak out. And we're not talking about those who traveled with the Alaska governor who quickly took a shining to her and chafed when the McCain team botched her coming out on the campaign trail. Now I'm hearing from key Republicans on Capitol Hill and GOP pollsters who believe that the McCain campaign should have put her out to talk about energy and political independence—her two...

Sen. John McCain (?-Ariz.), joining with liberal Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), issued a report last week on the abuse of terrorist detainees. The report accuses former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Defense Department General Counsel Jim Haynes, and David Addington, Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, of causing the torture of terrorist detainees. But the report is a clumsy calumny, contradicting the factual conclusions of earlier, far more credible investigations. Predictably, it was enough for the New York Times to call for the appointment of a prosecutor to consider criminal charges against Rumsfeld and the others....

Remember the John McCain that many Arizonans grew to like over the years - the one who stuck by his principles but was not politically dogmatic or doctrinaire, and instead tried to represent the interests of people in general? Well, that John McCain seems to be back after a long journey into the dark jungle of presidential politics where he seemed to veer from his familiar middle-of-the-road approach to politics - an approach that a lot of Arizonans prefer, based on their long support for him.

Since the presidential election, former Secretary of State Colin Powell has not been making rounds on Sunday morning talk shows with the frequency he did when supporting Barack Obama for president. But last Sunday, he popped up on CNN to criticize Rush Limbaugh for misleading, if not destroying, the Republican Party. Powell tried to make the rejection of Limbaugh the path Republicans need to take to win elections again. Thus he asked rhetorically, “Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?” Of Limbaugh’s supposed influence on the Republican Party, Powell said: “Is this really the kind of party that we...

I normally don't stay up late enough to watch Late Night with David Letterman, but I happened to catch a little of it Thursday night, when Sen. John McCain was on. David Letterman make a rude joke about Gov. Sarah Palin, and John McCain laughed at it. That is when I realized I am done with John McCain. . . . . . If I were Rod Blago, I'd use some nice four-letter words to describe how I feel about Sen. McCain, but I'm not, so I won't. . . . . . I'm glad Sen. McCain didn't win the...

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Arizona Sen. John McCain, back in his home state, says he looks forward to working with President-elect Obama on the country's economic ills. McCain, talking Tuesday to the Tucson Citizen's editorial board, said the incoming president will be setting the nation's legislative agenda, and he's not sure where immigration reform falls among Obama's top priorities. But McCain said it's an issue that needs to be addressed.

Run, don't walk, to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., for an amazing Blowout Sale! Computers, blackberries, televisions, desks, you name it - everything must go. Hurry while the offer lasts! That's right, the failed McCain-Palin campaign is having a fire sale this week on leftover equipment. Everything is on sale at reduced prices. An email sent over the weekend to all campaign staff, which was subsequently forwarded to the Sleuth, reads: "Starting Monday December 8, 2008 the prices will be slashed to 36% of the original price for furniture, office supplies, blackberries, and many campaign computers....

Chief Justice William Rehnquist liked to take small groups of Supreme Court law clerks to lunch at the Monocle, an old Capitol Hill watering hole near the Senate. He ordered the same meal every time, a hamburger and a beer. Just as predictably, one of the young clerks would ask the chief justice of the United States for career advice. "Go home," he would say. It was only the mischievous twinkle in Rehnquist's eye that persuaded the listeners not to immediately clean out their desks right after lunch. As the chief justice would explain, the states, not Washington, presented the...

Members of the cultural right have called Juan Hernandez a "border obliteration activist," an "American traitor," and an "agent of the Mexican government." John McCain's presidential campaign called him something different: director of Hispanic outreach. For 14 months leading up to the election, the Fort Worth, Texas, native was a high-level volunteer at McCain '08 headquarters, where he attended daily senior staff meetings and advised the Arizona senator and his top lieutenants about how to appeal to Hispanic voters. Part of that strategy was highlighting McCain's record of championing comprehensive immigration reform. Meanwhile, down the hall, another portion of the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate Democrats say they likely will have a working filibuster-proof majority on key issues that could give early wins for President-elect Barack Obama. Although the number of Democrats remains unknown -- two Senate races are undecided -- vote-counters indicate support from Republican moderates will free up bills such as healthcare reform or immigration reform halted by the current Congress by GOP maneuvering, The Washington Post (NYSE:WPO) reported Monday. Democrats picked up seven Republican seats in last month's election to add to their majority when the next Congress convenes in January. In the current Congress,...

Sen. John McCain avoided reporters during the lame-duck session of Congress last week. But Tuesday, shortly after President-elect Obama had his own news conference about the economy, McCain broke his silence by speaking with reporters in Phoenix. This came after the two former contenders met last week, and Tuesday, McCain continued to make nice. When asked what advice he had for right-wing supporters who say the prospect of an Obama presidency terrifies them, he was categorical. "Respect this landmark election, respect the fact America faces great challenges, and Americans expect us to work together. That does not mean we won't...

Republican Sen. John McCain made three "big" mistakes while campaigning. Add those to the fact he had to follow in the footsteps of an unpopular president, and the Democrats were almost guaranteed a win Nov. 4, a political analyst said Friday. "It was a very unusual election, and almost all trend lines said it would be a Democratic victory," said Jerry Mayer, associate professor at George Mason University's School of Public Policy and director of the master's of public policy program. "It was not your year, Republicans."