Free Republic

Dennis Michael Lynch, the founder and CEO of TV360 Media and the driving force behind the movie “They Come to America” sat down with The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas to discuss his new movie “They Come to America 2″ Having covered the immigration debate from the frontline he had some harsh words for Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and his involvement in the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill. ‘I am so against what he is doing. … He’s got it in his mind that he wants to be the President of the United States and somebody sold him on...

The Senate voted down an amendment to the upper chamber's immigration bill proposed by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) that would require a full biometric visa tracking system placed at every land, sea, and air port of entry in the United States before legalized immigrants could receive green cards. The measure, which was also called for by the 9/11 Commission in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks, would establish a biometric exit-entry system. Gang of Eight member Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Breitbart News last week that the tracking system was the "lynchpin to the whole bill." In May, he...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said late Tuesday that he supports securing the United States border with Mexico with a double-tiered fence but voted against an amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill that would have required exactly that. Rubio and his fellow Gang of Eight Republicans helped the Democrats kill an amendment from Sen. John Thune (R-SD) that would have required the double-tiered fence be built, as current law requires, before amnesty was granted to America’s at least 11 million illegal immigrants. The only other Republican to vote against the amendment was Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). “I support Senator...

Referencing a Jay Leno one-liner, Burgess questioned fellow conservatives about the wisdom of giving citizenship to “11 million undocumented Democrats.” Laughter, some of it nervous, spread throughout the room. But not everyone found Burgess’ crack funny. According to several people who attended the June 5th gathering, Rubio glared at Burgess. This account, confirmed by multiple members and staffers, sheds light on what is perhaps the most politically obvious — and perpetually underplayed — conservative argument against providing citizenship to the nation’s illegal immigrants. With all the noise surrounding the debate over policy specifics — security measures, enforcement triggers, future flow,...

John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he might lose his job as House speaker over immigration reform, but he insisted he will not bring a bill to the House floor that does not have majority support of both Republicans and Democrats. Following the Republican conference meeting on Tuesday, Boehner was asked: “Rep. Rohrabacher said that if you bring immigration reform to the floor without the support of the GOP conference you will lose your job (as speaker). Do you think that’s accurate?” “Maybe,” Boehner said after a long pause, to laughter from reporters. …

Republicans are "in a demographic death spiral" and will fail in their effort to win the presidency if the party blocks an immigration overhaul, a leading GOP senator said Sunday. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who helped write a bipartisan immigration bill under debate in the Senate, said conservatives who are trying to block the measure will doom the party and all but guarantee a Democrat will remain in the White House after 2016's election. A Democrat also involved in developing the proposal, Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, went a step further and predicted "there'll never be...

In an exclusive sit-down interview with The Brody File, Jeb Bush began to sketch out his case for President of the United States if he decides to run next year. “It will be based on my record. And that record was one of solving problems from completely from a conservative perspective. I cut taxes every year, I shrunk the size of government,” Jeb Bush tells The Brody File. And as for his critics who say he’s too mainstream establishment he offers this: “I will be able to, I think, manage my way through all the chirpers out there.” We sat...

Former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) argued Wednesday that the United States should pass immigration reform because the U.S. economy needs the labor of young immigrants, and immigrants are “more fertile.” “Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans,” Bush said at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to the Majority conference. “Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity.” Bush said immigrants are an advantage that the United States has over China, Europe and Japan, which don’t have the same...

Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is walking a political tightrope as he charts his future, trying to balance his re-election campaign in a Democratic-leaning state with a potential presidential bid aimed at winning over Republicans. His latest challenge: appearing with former President Bill Clinton in Chicago at the risk of alienating religious conservatives being wooed in Washington by other potential GOP presidential candidates. Christie has pitched himself as a pragmatic, bipartisan leader as he seeks a second term as governor this fall. … In Washington the same day, evangelical conservatives gathered for Ralph Reed’s annual Faith and Freedom...

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) delivered her case Friday against the comprehensive immigration reform proposal, saying it would cost $6 trillion and particularly harm blacks and Hispanics. “What I’m asking all of us to consider are the profound implications of what this will mean, because amnesty will cost a fortune,” Bachmann said at the Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Faith & Freedom Coalition. “We’re looking at a $6 trillion cost for amnesty. Just the retirement benefits alone for illegal aliens—which must be born by the American people—is something like $2.7 trillion.” The Congressional Budget Office has...

Washington (CNN) – Making an argument for overhauling the nation's immigration system Friday to a crowd of conservative activists, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush claimed immigrants were "more fertile" and thus a great benefit to American society. His remark appeared to be an inarticulate reference to immigrants' fertility rates, which data show are higher than native-born Americans. "Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans over the last 20 years. Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity," Bush said at...

Republican House members leading a fight against Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said a “Trojan horse bill” is in the works to trick the GOP into voting for amnesty for illegal immigrants. (snip) “We have the really bad bill in the Senate and what’s going to happen, Glenn, is that a Trojan horse — a bill that’s going to really look good and really sound good and it’s going to talk about border security — a bill that we like will get voted on and passed,” Bachmann said. Both bills will go to a conference committee to be reconciled, where “they’ll...

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer muscled her way to victory in her crusade for Medicaid expansion Thursday, outmaneuvering conservative opposition to push through a key piece of President Barack Obama’s agenda. She not only supported the Medicaid expansion, but took extraordinary measures to push for its passage. Brewer crisscross(ed) the state to promote expansion and shame detractors. This month she started vetoing a stream of unrelated bills to pry her top priority loose from Republicans, and she brought them back into special session. A coalition of moderate Republicans and Democrats sent Brewer a bill on Thursday extending Medicaid to an estimated...

Even when we’ve tried through good intentions to make the world a better place our actions have often backfired. During the Iraq War, over a quarter-million Iraqi Christians fled Iraq. Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator but his government was secular and therefore relatively safe for Christians. Christians, however, feared the Shiite government that we helped put in place after Saddam, and they fled in droves. Where did these Christians go? They headed mostly for Syria, joining the over one million Syrians who have lived as Christians since the time of Christ. Now, the senate is attempting to arm the...

... how can they endorse a guy who routinely does violence to core principles of the Democratic Party? Christie favors the rich over the poor every time. He vetoed an income-tax hike on the top 1 percent and a modest increase in the minimum wage. He is an aggressive opponent of abortion rights who closed down six Planned Parenthood clinics. He pooh-poohs climate change, withdrew from the regional treaty to cut emissions, and depleted the state’s clean energy funds by a staggering $1 billion. He removed the only African-American justice on the state Supreme Court for no good reason. He...

The fight for the soul of the Republican Party intensifies this week as Republican leaders gather in Washington to court religious conservatives. The Faith and Freedom Coalition, a group created by former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, is launching a conference Thursday designed to strengthen the evangelical influence in national politics while giving many religious conservative activists their first look at potential 2016 presidential candidates. … Reed told The Associated Press that religious conservatives have a simple message for GOP leaders: “Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the pro-life, pro-family and pro-marriage positions that candidates have taken and will take in...

"Earned legalization is not amnesty," Ryan said during a forum on immigration sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers. "I will debate anybody who tries to suggest that these ideas that are moving through Congress are amnesty. They're not. Amnesty is wiping the slate clean and not paying any penalty for having done something wrong." Ryan pointed to provisions baked into the Senate bill from the beginning that require those in the United States to pay a fine, back taxes, undergo background checks and enter a years-long probationary period before earning citizenship, a process that can take up to 15...

Sherwood, May lose; Gilbert remains By Alex Bridges Political newcomers defeated two of the region's veteran Republican Party delegates in primaries Tuesday, according to unofficial results. Mark J. Berg defeated Del. Beverly J. Sherwood for the 29th District. Dave LaRock defeated Senior Republican Joe May for the 33rd District, according to unofficial results from the Virginia State Board of Elections. Both May and Sherwood lost their bids to run for their 11th terms. The outcomes mean Berg and LaRock will represent the party on the ballot along with Del. C. Todd Gilbert in the regular election Nov. 5. Gilbert fended...

In 2007, John McCain’s “comprehensive” immigrant-legalization bill failed after opponents flooded the Senate with calls, shutting down the switchboard. Despite considerable press hype, the bill didn’t even muster a majority on the crucial cloture vote. It won’t be that easy this time. For one thing, they have a better switchboard, I’m told. For another, the Republican consultants–e.g. Gillespie, Rove–who helped Mitt Romney lose the 2012 election have taken their own failure as an excuse to push what they’ve wanted all along–a business-pleasing immigration policy guaranteeing a supply of inexpensive labor from abroad and a stream of campaign donations to pay...

You listening, Fox/Rove/Coulter?

There are times when I actually begin to think that many who wear a Republican jersey are, in fact, Democrats. One such issue that makes my eyebrows raise is the current immigration reform bill being put forth by the Gang of Eight, which include John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Marco Ruibo (R-FL) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Rubio told Univision over the weekend that before we secure our borders, we’ll be legalizing criminals (illegal aliens) who have come into the United States first. Univision reports, Rubio, responding to the concern that legalization might be delayed and therefore be subjected to...

WASHINGTON—Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she will back the bipartisan overhaul of the nation's immigration system. The New Hampshire senator said Sunday the nation's immigration is broken and needs to be fixed. She says the Senate proposal secures the border and provides a "tough but fair" way for immigrants to earn citizenship. A bipartisan group of eight senators drafted the bill and then guided it through the Judiciary Committee to the full Senate. Despite widespread support, the bill's passage is by no means certain

Ryan, the House GOP budget chief and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, told The Hill that he supported the legislation the House group hopes to introduce this month, despite the departure of conservative Rep. Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho). ... While Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has spoken positively of the House group’s efforts, he has made no commitments to their legislation, and on Thursday he again voiced skepticism about the prospects for comprehensive immigration reform in the House. “I’ve never been a big fan of what I call comprehensive bills,” Boehner said in an appearance on "The Laura Ingraham Show." “They just...

Rep. John Dingell, now 86 years old, on Friday became the longest-serving member of Congress. In a congratulatory news release, the office of House Speaker John Boehner’s office originally identified the liberal Democrat from Michigan as an “R.” …

He just held a news conference. He could have appointed someone to serve until 2014. Instead, the election will be October 16, 2014. The primaries will be August 13. He would not comment on who he would appoint to serve until then. Video when available. I don’t understand all the nuances of NJ politics, so hopefully readers can add local color in the comments. Christie splits baby: D's get speedy special elex (could have waited 18 mo),GOP likely gets placeholder Sen & no Booker on ballot in Nov — Guy Benson (@guypbenson) June 4, 2013 Christie's decision is all about...

In January, Geraldo Rivera said he was thinking of running in 2014 for Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s seat. Now, after the senator's passing, Gov. Chris Christie has the politically perilous task of naming a replacement. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) needs to pick a replacement for the Garden State’s Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who died Monday. As many pundits note, this is a task that’s fraught with political peril for Governor Christie: Pick someone deemed too liberal by conservatives, and he damages his presidential chances. Pick someone deemed too conservative by Democrats, and he damages his standing in his own blue-tinged...

Priebus: GOP 'Open for Repairs' By Andrew Stiles June 2, 2013 10:03 AM Comments 0 Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus pushed back against former Senator Bob Dole’s (R., Kan.) recent remarks that Ronald Reagan “couldn’t have made it” in today’s GOP, and Dole’s suggestion that “they ought to put a sign on the national committee doors that say ‘closed for repairs’ until new year’s day next year.” “I would say that we’re not closed for repairs, but we’re open for repairs,” Priebus said, noting the RNC’s post-election autopsy, the Growth and Opportunity Project, which was published earlier this year....

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense Kyle and a friend were both killed by a veteran struggling with PTSD while working with him at a gun range on Saturday. Kyle was the author of the best-selling "American Sniper," which detailed his time as a record-holding SEAL sniper.

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: 'Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense'

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense

Glenn Beck✔ @glennbeck Newest member of the Westboro Baptist Church: Ron Paul. I am with Marcus Latrell & grieving family members. Will respond tomorrow. SHAMEFUL. 1:30 AM - 05 Feb 13 289 Retweets 96 favorites Tell us what you really think, Glenn. Glenn Beck wasn’t the only one making that comparison after Ron Paul launched a repulsive Twitter attack on murdered American hero Chris Kyle. Derek Ryan @longhornderek Ron Paul is now no better than the Westboro Church protesters. (Let's hear it, Ronulans. Lets hear you defend your dear leader.) 6:28 PM - 04 Feb 13(continued)

That former Congressman and GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul would smear an American hero like Chris Kyle following his death speaks a great deal to his character or lack thereof. Yesterday, Paul sent out a Tweet which read: Chris Kyle’s death seems to confirm that “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn’t make sense. It makes you wonder if these were the sort of letters Paul sent to the families of fallen soldiers who resided in his district. Needless to say, this justly provoked outrage. Glenn Beck described Paul as...

Pennsylvania politicians seeking increased spending on roads and bridges point to a new report that outlines the unseen costs of the state’s crumbling infrastructure. (snip) The report states that the average driver in Harrisburg will incur $1,646 in annual expenses related to poor road conditions. (snip)Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed uncapping the gas tax as a way to eventually generate $1.8 billion dollars over five years for transportation funding. The proposal would affect the oil-franchise tax, a tariff applied to the wholesale price of gasoline. Currently, the tax only applies to the first $1.25 of the cost of a gallon,...

Exact Quote: "Familiarity with conservative policy and politics is recommended but not required."

WASHINGTON — Senator John McCain’s office is pushing back against reports that while visiting Syria this week he posed in a photo with rebels who kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shi’ite pilgrims. The photo, released by McCain’s office, shows McCain with a group of rebels. Among them are two men identified in the Lebanese press as Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim, two of the kidnappers of the group from Lebanon.

When Lyndon Johnson lost the support of Walter Cronkite for his prosecution of the war in Viet Nam, he was sufficiently impressed that he pulled out of the 1968 presidential election. Recognizing the gravity of this defeat, Johnson said, “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” While the squishy “Republicans” at the “Weekly Standard” are in no way as influential as “Uncle Walter” was in 1968, the advice from William Kristol of the Weekly Standard to Marco Rubio to “get out” of this effort to “fix” immigration is nonetheless quite telling. During a recent interview about the Senate’s efforts...

The thrice-promised land it has been called. It is that land north of Mecca and Medina and south of Anatolia, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.In 1915 — that year of Gallipoli, which forced the resignation of First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill — Britain, to win Arab support for its war against the Ottoman Turks, committed, in the McMahon Agreement, to the independence of these lands under Arab rule.It was for this that Lawrence of Arabia and the Arabs fought.In November 1917, however, one month before Gen. Allenby led his army into Jerusalem, Lord Balfour, in...

President Barack Obama tried his hand at arcade football and joked Tuesday with Gov. Chris Christie, declaring the Jersey Shore is back seven months after Superstorm Sandy bore down on its famed boardwalks and seaside towns. The job of repairing the $38 billion in damage inflicted by the storm is not over, Obama said, adding that his return visit to a state he visited in the storm’s immediate aftermath was intended to show he’s still committed to putting the federal government to work. When all is said and done, Obama said, the Jersey Shore will be better and more resilient...

I can't wait for Chris Wallace of Fox News to ask - really ask - a Democrat if JFK could get the nomination today, and/or if the Democrat Party really is big-tent (accepting of Dems who are pro-second amendment, pro-across-the board tax cuts, pro-life, pro-traditional marriage), etc... If one could go back to JFK's time and ask him personally if he would support same-sex marriage, I wonder what he would say. And JFK supported across-the-board tax cuts, too, btw. One thing that we could take from the interview though is that there is no reason for the GOP to say...

Why the hysteria about Russia? From the tone of what passes for policy discourse in Washington, one would think that Russian troops were massing on the country’s western border and that opposition activists were being executed by the hundreds. Some realities in Russia are indeed disturbing, but a sense of perspective is needed. If Moscow were really the capital of a brutally authoritarian anti-American state, things could be far worse — and profoundly damaging to U.S. national interests. But demonizing Russia doesn’t change conditions there and only undermines our ability to get what we want and need. Domestically, Russia is...

The U.S. is fortunate that Russia is not intent on undermining our interests, which makes it a little odd that so many American hawks insist that this is so and sometimes seem eager to make it so. Consider Syria. Syria hawks see Russian opposition to Western and Arab intervention in the country as proof of Russian antagonism to America, but Russia is at most half-heartedly defending the status quo and continuing its formal policy of objecting to outside interference in other states’ internal affairs. It has committed itself to nothing except occasionally vetoing a resolution at the U.N., and if...

The Republican Party, having lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections, confronts a dilemma that's easier to describe than to solve: How can it broaden its appeal to up-for-grabs voters without alienating its conservative base? There's no consensus yet on how to do it. With the next election three years away, Republicans are tiptoeing around policy changes even as they size up potential candidates who range from tea party heroes to pragmatic governors in Republican- and Democratic-leaning states. (snip) While they circle that conundrum, Republican leaders hope for a charismatic nominee in the mold of...

The Republican Party has changed so drastically in recent years, the current GOP wouldn’t welcome the likes of Ronald Reagan, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole(R) said Sunday. The current GOP ought to be “closed for repairs” because it lacks a vision and is unable to strike deals with Democrats, Dole said during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday”. The Kansas Republican said he was disturbed by his party’s obstructionist behavior on Capitol Hill. “It seems almost unreal that we can’t get together on a budget or legislation,” he said. -snip Asked whether he...

Maverick Senator John McCain (R-Az) lashed out at his Republican colleagues in Congress for actions he says “go too far.” The tiff arose over Democrat maneuvers to raise the debt ceiling. “It’s alright to express an opinion and have a debate, but in the end we’ve still got to let the Democrats govern,” McCain insisted. “Repeated efforts to stymie legislation we don’t like is downright uncollegial.” The Arizona Senator discounted arguments that Democrats make no effort to be collegial from their side saying that “two wrongs don’t make a right. Didn’t your parents teach you that? Didn’t Jesus bid us...

If Republicans were writing a movie script for next year’s congressional elections, the working title might be “2014: Apocalypse of Obamacare.” The plot: The rollout of President Barack Obama’s health care law turns into such a disaster that enraged voters rebuke him by rewarding the GOP with undisputed control of Congress. But there’s a risk for Republicans if they’re wrong and the Affordable Care Act works reasonably well, particularly in states that have embraced it. Republicans might be seen as obstinately standing in the way of progress. …

SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's wife says her husband would make a good president. But in an interview Friday on NBC's "Today" show, first lady Mary Pat Christie said the family is not plotting a 2016 presidential run now. She says that she and Chris Christie have talked about their options for the future. She says they'll talk more about what the future holds after the Republican's re-election campaign. Christie is expected to face Democratic State Sen. Barbara Buono in the November election. Gov. Christie, who has been racing up and down the shore opening...

MARK LEVIN (transcript): "So why didn't Chairman Issa hold an investigative hearing a year ago? Why didn't Chairman Camp, all Republicans, hold an investigative hearing a year ago, and all the other tripping over themselves right now? "I'll tell you why. Because the establishment Republicans, the RINO Republicans, despise the Tea Party. They despise the conservative movement. "We exist to be managed, to be shuttled to the polling place, to vote for their candidates. The Karl Roves of the world, and all the rest of them. They fight us in the primaries, they fight us at the grassroots. We're a...

A long-simmering feud between establishment Republicans and Tea Partyers broke into full view Thursday, with Sen. John McCain accusing younger colleagues of overplaying their hands and tempting Democrats to change Senate rules that protect the minority party. Tactics for dealing with the government’s budget and debt became the latest quarrel In a string of them between McCain —sometimes joined by....

A long-simmering feud between establishment Republicans and tea partyers is in full view again with Sen. John McCain accusing younger colleagues of using tactics that might tempt Democrats to change Senate rules that now protect the minority party. How to deal with the government’s debt and spending became the latest quarrel between the GOP’s 2008 presidential candidate and tea party champions such as Senators Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah. …