Free Republic

Of all the misguided, corrupt and deranged ideas floating around inside the D.C. bubble, perhaps the single worst one is giving illegal aliens amnesty as part of some sort of attempt to capture the Hispanic vote. If the GOP were to pursue a policy that primarily benefits corrupt business owners, the government of Mexico, and Democrats at the expense of our country and our own base, we'd truly deserve the "Stupid Party" moniker that has so often been hung around our neck. This policy wouldn't be a calculated risk or even a longshot; it would be a game of Russian...

Big day in politics tomorrow. Among others, there are two elections in Pennsylvania that will get a great deal of attention, as well as a Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Kentucky, and a Democratic primary for Senate in Arkansas which will keep the lines buzzing for a while. In Pennsylvania, the primary between Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Joe Sestak will decide who gets be the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate to run against Pat Toomey in the fall. The likely story is Sestak will win because he is running a very smart campaign, reminding Democratic voters that...

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter leads Democratic primary challenger U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and Republican Pat Toomey in the race for Mr. Specter's seat, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. Mr. Specter leads Mr. Sestak, 53-29 percent in the primary race, and Mr. Toomey 49-42 percent in a general election matchup, up from a 44-44 percent tie Dec. 18.

(President Barack Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., pause atop the stairs from Air Force One upon their arrival at Philadelphia International Airport on Sept. 15. Sen. Specter trails Pa. Republican Senate Candidate Pat Toomey in a new Quinnipiac University poll.) (Joseph Kaczmarek/Associated Press) Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey now leads incumbent Democrat Arlen Specter 43 percent to 42 percent among the state’s registered voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday. Mr. Specter switched parties from Republican to Democratic in April, explaining that he had no interest in staying in a party that would not nominate him...

While a poll from Rasmussen Reports last week showed Republican former Congressman Pat Toomey beating Democratic Senator Arlen Specter in a reelection match-up, a poll for a leftist Web site shows different findings. The far-left Daily Kos commissioned a Research 2000 poll which has Mr. Specter beating Mr. Toomey 45 percent to 40 percent. It also shows Mr. Specter beating U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-7th, of Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties in a primary match-up with a margin of 48 percent to 33 percent. In a potential Toomey-Sestak general-election contest, Mr. Sestak has a one-percent edge over Mr. Toomey, the...

March 13, 2009, 0:00 a.m. Toomey Can Put Specter Out of GOP’s MiserySomebody needs to stand up on the Senate floor and say, ‘Enough!’ By Deroy Murdock Palm Beach, Florida — Sen. Arlen Specter’s support for the 1,071-page Obama-Pelosi-Reid “stimulus” package will cost taxpayers $787 billion. That vote may cost the Pennsylvania Republican his job. “I am very likely to make a run for the Senate,” says Pat Toomey, a former Keystone State congressman and free-market stalwart. “Specter’s vote was a profound betrayal of the Republican Party and conservative principles. It’s a big factor” behind Toomey’s potential challenge to...

MAYBE IT'S time Arlen came home. I mean Arlen Specter. And I mean to the Democratic Party. He was, after all, a Democrat during his first few decades (went Republican in '65 to run for D.A.); maybe he should be a Democrat in his last few. And maybe, as he seeks his sixth Senate term, that's how he could hang onto the office he has held longer than any other Pennsylvanian. I say this because of news this week that former Lehigh Valley congressman and conservative Republican Pat Toomey is "considering" challenging Specter in next year's GOP Senate primary. Yesterday,...

By Angela Couloumbis INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU HARRISBURG - Nobody used to want a ticket from Col. Jeffrey B. Miller, the high-profile, 24-year veteran of the state police. Now, everyone is hounding him for tickets - to NFL ballgames.

When it comes to avoiding a ban for speeding, the courts hear every excuse in the book. But yesterday one motorist offered what must be a unique reason why he should keep his licence. Mohammed Anwar said a ban would make it difficult to commute between his two wives and fulfil his matrimonial duties. His lawyer told a Scottish court the Muslim restaurant owner has one wife in Motherwell and another in Glasgow - he is allowed up to four under his religion - and sleeps with them on alternate nights. He also needed his driving licence to run his...

Santorum, known nationally for his social conservatism, says Giuliani does a good job of reminding people how he governed as a conservative on crime, welfare and taxes in New York City. Santorum also believes Giuliani has scored points on social issues with his comments about judges and Supreme Court justices. "Rudy understands that, on those issues, the courts are where conservatives have been losing the battle," he says. "If he is going to be appointing judges in the Scalia-Thomas (mold), then he is sending a very positive message to conservatives that he understands the importance of having the Constitution interpreted...

Sen. Arlen Specter, a 26-year Senate Republican, said he will visit Syria despite loud objections by the Bush administration, contending the situation in Iraq is so dire that it is time Congress step up to the plate and see what it can do. Specter, R-Pa., said in an interview late Friday that he is planning a trip to the Middle East that will include Israel and Syria. The senator said he and other Republicans are concerned that the administration's policies in the Middle East are not working and that other GOP members may follow in his footsteps. "I've talked to...

WASHINGTON - A powerful Republican committee chairman who has led the fight against President Bush's signing statements said Monday he would have a bill ready by the end of the week allowing Congress to sue him in federal court. "We will submit legislation to the United States Senate which will...authorize the Congress to undertake judicial review of those signing statements with the view to having the president's acts declared unconstitutional," Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said on the Senate floor. Specter's announcement came the same day that an American Bar Association task force concluded that by attaching conditions to...

When Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter stepped into the shower yesterday, it was an elusive immigration overhaul, not a slippery bar of soap, that he most hoped to keep within his grasp. The Pennsylvania Republican wanted a way to counter the House GOP’s unusual post-passage hearings on the bill, which are sure to delay negotiations and give a platform to critics of the Senate’s “path to citizenship” for millions of illegal immigrants. “I plan to hold some hearings of our own,” he told surprised reporters in the Capitol later in the day. “I just developed the idea this morning in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will have to explain why it thinks it can ignore or overrule laws passed by Congress in a hearing next week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said on Wednesday. Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said he hoped to force the Bush administration to reduce its use of "signing statements" -- memos that reserve the right to ignore laws if the president thinks they impinge on his authority. "Our legislation doesn't amount to anything if the president can say, 'My constitutional authority supersedes the statute.' And I think we've got to lay down the gauntlet...

* On the seemingly uphill re-election campaign of his fellow Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Rick Santorum, whom Specter praised highly and called "indispensable to my re-election" two years ago: "His re-election is my number one priority.... We have a very close personal relationship as well as political and professional." "He will win unless there is an avalanche.... He's a very forceful senator." ... * On the Democrats' conduct during hearings for judicial nominees, Specter was close to scathing. "Schumer was absolutely rude to Alito." Filibusters "lost them Daschle and lost them a fair number of seats." * On various Democrats: Minority...

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman says he's prepared to force telephone company executives to testify about the White House's eavesdropping program if the Bush administration doesn't fully cooperate in drafting new rules on what's allowable. "If we don't get some results, I'm prepared to go back to demand hearings and issue subpoenas if necessary," Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition." Specter said he was more hopeful, after talking Thursday with Vice President Dick Cheney, that committee hearings and subpoenas could be avoided. Specter had threatened to subpoena executives of major phone companies...

Vice President Dick Cheney Thursday defended himself against accusations by a leading Republican senator that he worked to thwart Senate plans to make telephone executives testify at a hearing about a U.S. domestic spying program. A day after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter rebuked Cheney for trying to head off subpoenas of the phone company executives, Cheney acknowledged that he had spoken to Senate leaders and members of Specter's committee. He said in a letter to Specter that he acted when the administration became concerned about a "compulsory process to force testimony" in a matter that could involve classified...

O.K. Freepers, here’s the list of Pubbies who voted with the Dems Thursday to give Social Security benefits to Illegal Aliens. Brownback (KS) Chafee (RI) DeWine (OH) Graham (SC) Hagel (NE) Lugar (IN) Martinez (FL) McCain (AZ) Specter (PA) Stevens (AK) Voinovich (OH) I must admit that I was shocked by Brownback’s and Lugar’s votes.

Among those who will be cleared of past crimes under the Senate's proposed immigration-reform bill would be the businesses that have employed the estimated 10 million illegal aliens eligible for citizenship and that provided the very "magnet" that drew them here in the first place. Buried in the more than 600 pages of legislation is a section titled "Employer Protections," which states: "Employers of aliens applying for adjustment of status under this section shall not be subject to civil and criminal tax liability relating directly to the employment of such alien." Supporters of the legislation insist that such provisions do...

The nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden to take over the CIA would trigger a fresh battle over the secret warrantless surveillance program he oversaw on behalf of President Bush, a debate that could help shape the contours of the fall midterm congressional elections, officials in both parties said yesterday. Barring a change of heart, aides expect Bush to name Hayden tomorrow as his choice to succeed CIA director Porter J. Goss, who resigned under pressure Friday. Hayden, a former director of the National Security Agency and now deputy director of national intelligence, has become the most forceful defender of...