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Candidate Rudy Giuliani pledges to appoint strict-constructionist judges who won’t make policy from the bench, because “making laws is the responsibility of an elected legislature.” He cites Justices Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito as model appointments. Plaintiff Giuliani had a wholly different view of the judge’s role. As mayor of New York City, he launched lawsuits that sought liberal rulings to punish gun manufacturers and to overturn legislation on immigration, welfare reform, and taxes. When elected legislatures made laws with which he disagreed, this Giuliani thought it was a judge’s responsibility to legislate from the bench. In late September, Rudy...

SACRAMENTO - Lawmakers are expected to take up the fierce debate over illegal immigration again this year with a host of bills meant to deny or expand benefits to the undocumented. Already in this new legislative session, Republicans have proposed bills to deny public benefits to illegal immigrants, crack down on employers who hire them and give law enforcement new tools to arrest them. And reflecting sharp party-line splits, Democrats are looking to expand opportunities available to undocumented immigrants, including granting them the right to drive and providing subsidized health coverage. But, as in previous efforts, little significant action is...

This site translates this La Opinion article about an (English-language) interview with California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: It was an error to support Proposal 187, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted yesterday during a meeting with the editorial board of La Opinion. The state’s chief executive expressed his positions on immigration, public education, the healthcare crisis, and his vision for California, within the context of his campaign and its engagement of the state's Latin community with a view to his re-election in November. There's audio at the second link, with more to follow tomorrow. I have three statements to make: 1. As before,...

But Wilson, a former senator, rejected that charge at a Hudson Institute talk in Washington. And, despite being a Bush appointee (to the Defense Policy Board, a Pentagon advisory panel), he called on his former colleagues to resist White House pressure on the House and Senate to pass a compromise bill that preserves elements of the president's more generous approach and includes a path to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants already here. He said the only reason the Senate voted for a more generous bill in the first place was that many senators had been ``intimidated.'' Wilson said...

With California’s state budget hung up, at least for the moment, on the politics of illegal immigration and children’s health care, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is right in the middle between legislative Democrats and Republicans. It’s consistent with his evolution from supporter of the anti-illegal immigrant Proposition 187 in 1994 to his dramatic declaration in 2002 that he opposed any Prop 187-like measure. Schwarzenegger wants to add money for existing children’s health care programs at the county level, which service children who are here illegally. But he doesn’t want to start up a new program, which would begin the process of...

SACRAMENTO - Frustrated by the federal government's inability to stop the flow of illegal immigration, the state's Republican lawmakers are attempting to put the squeeze on millions of undocumented workers, students and parents in ways unseen since the movement that led to Proposition 187 more than a decade ago. Assembly and Senate Republicans have proposed 25 measures this legislative session that would restrict illegal immigrants' access to college, block state-funded benefits and encourage police officers to act as immigration agents.Some of the measures will be vetted at committee hearings in the coming weeks and it is almost certain that most...

By Mark Andrew Dwyer - July 6, 2005 A majority of California lawmakers work hard to give away as much of the Golden State and its budget to illegal aliens as they can. But they don't have guts to openly say so. They will deceitfully seek all kinds of phony excuses to cover up for their de facto refusal to represent majority of California voters, that only those brainwashed in California public schools and universities and those with substandard IQ will buy. As reported by the Associated Press [1], "[t]he Judiciary Committee [of California Assembly] voted 4-2 to turn down...

Emboldened by the passage of an Arizona ballot measure that prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving public benefits, like-minded conservatives are stepping up their efforts for a similar initiative in California. "It's clear there is public support for cutting off benefits to people here illegally,' said Mike Spence, president of the California Republican Assembly, a group pushing a similar proposal in California. "What happened in Arizona is definitely a benefit because it keeps the issue at the forefront.' Despite the opposition of Arizona's political establishment, including business groups, churches and Republican and Democratic lawmakers, Proposition 200 prevailed 56percent to 44percent last...

SANTA FE, N.M. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday that he is unlikely to support a push by some fellow Republicans to bar the Legislature from granting driver's licenses to undocumented workers in California and to cut off their access to government subsidies for housing, food and higher education. "I think it's old hat," Schwarzenegger said of the proposal, which some conservatives hope to place on the ballot by 2006, during an interview following a two-day conference with governors from Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and six Mexican states along the U.S. border. -snip- In 1994, Schwarzenegger was among a majority...

No nationalists on Jack's 'shining hill' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: July 19, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 Creators Syndicate, Inc. "A struggle is underway for the soul of the Republican Party, between a minority of protectionist xenophobes and those who are pro-trade and pro-immigration." Thus does Jack Kemp begin a column in which he jettisons the black conservative running for Congress in North Carolina whom he earlier endorsed. Kemp accuses Vernon Robinson of "running a very negative and aggressive anti-immigration campaign ... contrary to the core values of the party of Lincoln." Jack is right about that struggle for the soul...

State GOP Haunted by Ghost of Prop. 187 A rift over illegal immigration threatens to unravel gains made in wooing the Latino vote. BURLINGAME, Calif. — A growing dispute among California Republicans over illegal immigration threatens to undercut the party's struggle to recover from the devastating Latino backlash against its support for Proposition 187, the landmark 1994 ballot measure. The March 2 Republican primary has heightened tensions within the party as candidates up and down the ballot sharpen their rhetoric. A conservative faction is in open revolt against steps that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Bush have taken on illegal...

California's political and judicial establishment sabotaged Proposition 187, the 1994 voter-passed ballot initiative that would have withheld many public benefits from illegal aliens. Now, ten years and millions of estimated illegal border crossings later, the same Tustin, Calif., accountant who was a major force behind Prop 187 is trying to pass a similar initiative. Ron Prince believes that his second attempt, called the Save Our State Initiative (SOS), will fare better. The 1996 federal welfare reform law strengthens the hand of state-level immigration reformers, he argued in an interview SOS also leaves out the most legally contentious issues that were...

Teens plan anti-governor march LATINO GROUP'S PROTEST OF LICENSE LAW REPEAL TO STOP IN S.J. MONDAY By Edwin Garcia Mercury News A group of Bay Area teenagers has it in for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Angry that the movie star-turned-politician abolished a law that would have let illegal immigrants apply for driver's licenses, the teens are trying to persuade a million students to join them in a statewide protest against Schwarzenegger -- and anyone else who has opposed licenses for the undocumented. Latino Focus, a Redwood City-based group of about 50 students, plans to boycott Schwarzenegger's movies, mount a large-scale voter...

Californians Launch New Prop. 187 Measure 16 minutes ago By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES - Backers of a contentious 1994 initiative denying some social services to illegal immigrants have resurrected their effort and are gathering signatures to qualify a new measure for the November ballot. The "Save Our State Initiative" would bar undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses and most public services, including non-emergency health care. Police, teachers and other public employees would have to notify federal authorities in writing of immigration violations or face potential misdemeanor criminal charges. "We don't think it's right to give welfare...

<p>Organizers who a decade ago wrote Proposition 187 -- a landmark ballot measure that divided California -- are gathering signatures for a new initiative that again would attempt to prohibit illegal immigrants from receiving a broad array of public services.</p>

California is paving the way again for other states to follow. Illegal Immigration is bankrupting California in many ways and is becoming a problem in just about every state in this nation. Which state will be next? Use the link at the bottom of the page to download petitions for Save Our State. These petitions will make sure that the new "Prop. 187" will be on the ballot for the voters to pass AGAIN. This time, there will be NO DIRTY TRICKS. All problems have been ironed out, no Judge from the "9th" Circuit Court will be able to stop...

By Ed Mendel STAFF WRITER December 3, 2003 SACRAMENTO – A group that sponsored Proposition 187, a measure denying public services to illegal immigrants that was blocked by the courts, will try to place a similar initiative on the November ballot next year. The group is encouraged by the pending repeal of a law allowing illegal immigrants to obtain driver licenses and the historic election that recalled former Gov. Gray Davis and replaced him with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ron Prince of Save Our State said polls show that Proposition 187 continues to be popular with voters, and drives for the...

<p>Tom McClintock wants to resurrect Proposition 187, taking advantage of the legal opening Gov. Gray Davis left when he settled the case and halted state appeals to uphold the initiative in 1999.</p> <p>McClintock promises, if elected governor, to return to the courts with the 1994 initiative, which banned education and social services for undocumented immigrants.</p>

Today on the KABC (KEN & COMPANY), fill-in host Doug McIntyre played a tape of Chairman of California Democrat Party ART TORRES declaring: "[Proposition] 187 was the last gasp of white America in California." Here is a link to a real audio file of him doing so in front of 400 cheering Latinos at U.C. Riverside on January 14, 1995. http://www.americanpatrol.org/RA/artorreslastgaspUCR.ram

<p>The explosions that got this recall campaign off and running lit up the political sky but left a lot of damage, much of it self-inflicted. Arnold Schwarzenegger's stunning announcement flattened Gov. Gray Davis and shattered Democratic unity around the party's recall strategy, sending Davis' lieutenant governor, Cruz Bustamante, scurrying into the race, breaking his own pledge not to run.</p>

Joe Armendariz Prop 187 Revisited Campaign season has begun, but, don't feed the Pander Bears... [Joe Armendariz] 8/14/03 In the opening salvos of the battle to replace Gray Davis, Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Arnold Schwarzenegger has been coming under fire for his support of Proposition 187 from the Democratic Party's chief Latino racemonger, Art Torres. As long-time Californians will recall, Proposition 187, which appeared on the ballot in 1994 as the "Save Our State" initiative, would have excluded illegal immigrants from access to public services, including an education for their children. California voters -- including a large percentage of Latinos --...

But Prop. 187 would pass again today, pollsters and strategists say. A 1999 Times poll found that 60% of registered voters would support another Prop. 187. Moreover, 75% of Republicans said they'd back it — a sentiment that's bound to help Schwarzenegger, since the recall election could be tilted to the right by an unusually large turnout of GOP voters. "The worst thing for Democrats to do is rerun Prop. 187," says political analyst Tony Quinn. "It helps Schwarzenegger where he needs the most help: among core Republicans." Beyond that, Democrats shouldn't be demagoguing on illegal immigration — or any...

One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." -- Plato I wonder why every employer and employee in the land must pay into the Social Security system, except for members of Congress, who can exempt themselves. I wonder why newly arrived immigrants can get right on Social Security, welfare and other social services. They haven't even paid into the system. I thought they needed responsible guarantors to immigrate? I wonder why no one is supposed to talk about fixing Social Security. Doesn't everyone know it's not a true...

Why not win?Debra Saunders (archive) May 23, 2003 | Print | SendHere's my question for the political team at the White House: How many elections do California Republicans have to lose because the White House is afraid that certain candidates and issues will cost the GOP wins elsewhere in the country or in the future? As Chuck Todd reported in the National Journal, "Republicans this side of the White House lawn" are opposed to efforts by Californians to push former Gov. Pete Wilson to run against Sen. Barbara Boxer. It doesn't matter that Wilson has won four statewide runs for...

Since leaving office four years ago, former Gov. Pete Wilson says he has watched with growing frustration while critics have misrepresented his record.Democrats and members of his own Republican Party cite Wilson's support of Proposition 187 in 1994 as a major reason no Republican aside from former Secretary of State Bill Jones has won a statewide election since then.The measure would have denied most public services, including education and health care, to illegal immigrants and was approved by 59 percent of California's voters.But it was largely gutted by the courts and used by Democratic opponents to portray Republican supporters...

Members of the Somali community and a coalition of local advocacy groups plan to file a complaint with the Justice Department against the city of Lewiston. The complaint will ask for a comprehensive federal review of Lewiston's programs and services, from the schools to the police department, to ensure that they do not discriminate on the basis of national origin. The decision to seek federal intervention, which is supported by the Islamic Society of Portland and Peace Action Maine, comes as Lewiston is getting worldwide attention - much of it less than flattering - for a controversial letter sent by...

Conservatives were the driving force behind California's Proposition 187 in 1994 — but it's hard to find many of them today who think it was worthwhile. Now, eight years later, comes evidence that it may have done some good. The rap against Proposition 187, which sought to deny a range of public benefits to illegal aliens, is that it achieved a short-term political success at the cost of a long-term disaster. It passed handily at the ballot box, helped reelect Republican governor Pete Wilson, and may have contributed modestly to the GOP's congressional sweep that year. But it was doomed...