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SenateJudiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, didn't rule out confirmation hearings and a vote by his panel on an Obama selection. "I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decision," Mr. Grassley said Tuesday in a conference call with Iowa radio reporters. "In other words, take it a step at a time." Asked whether he thought the controversy over filling the court vacancy might endanger his re-election chances this fall, Mr. Grassley said, "I think I have a responsibility to perform, and I can't worry about the election. I've got to do my job...

Iran has rejected an assessment by the U.N. nuclear agency that it did past work on nuclear arms but is praising some aspects of the agency's investigation of the issue, reflecting satisfaction that the more than decade-long probe has ended. Closure of the file means that some questions about the alleged weapons work may never be resolved. Before the 35-nation board of the U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency adopted a resolution last month ending the investigation, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told the meeting that his investigation couldn't "reconstruct all the details of activities conducted by Iran in the past." But...

President Obama has earned enough Democratic votes in the Senate to filibuster a Senate effort to block the Iran nuclear deal, if necessary. On Monday, Sens Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) , Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) , and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) announced their support for the deal, tallying enough votes to successfully filibuster the deal. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced his opposition to the deal in a surprise defection from Obama, citing Iran’s support of terrorism and the death of American soldiers. “This regime has shown no signs that its deplorable behavior will change, and this deal does nothing to...

 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. -Luke 11:24-26

Yesterday’s procedural vote in the Republican-controlled Senate to give Obama Trade Promotion Authority, or “fast track” as it used to be called, passed by just one vote – that of Florida’s Republican Senator and presidential aspirant Marco Rubio. Why would Rubio vote to give Obama more power? No one knows for certain, but Senator Jeff Sessions, in a statement released after the vote gave us some insight into the dynamics of what went on on Capitol Hill prior to the vote. “Americans increasingly believe that their country isn’t serving its own citizens. They need look no further than a bipartisan...

Now that it's been defeated, I want to read the bill. I'm glad it was defeated, but now it is time to mine this bill for what its worth and start kicking out establishment Republicans.

Anti-racism activists in Norway have refused to participate in a Holocaust commemoration because members of the Jewish community were also invited to it, according to a Norwegian blog cited by the International Business Times (IBT). According to blog “Norway, Israel and the Jews,” Norwegian organization New SOS Racisme – which claims to act against racism – demanded that the "Zionist Jews of Bergen" be banned from attending the Kristallnacht memorial event held earlier this week. They "refused to participate in the Kristallnacht commemoration since a representative from the Mosaic Congregation [a conservative Jewish Congregation ] was invited. Yes, they balked...

With all the smirking on the left about their electoral victories, it's important to remember that Democrats haven't won the hearts and minds of the American people. They changed the people. If you pour vinegar into a bottle of wine, the wine didn't turn, you poured vinegar into it. Similarly, liberals changed no minds. They added millions of new liberal voters through immigration. So why are Republicans like Trey Gowdy, Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and John Boehner making fools of themselves in order to spot the Democrats three more touchdowns? The House Republicans' "Standards for Immigration Reform," for example, contains...

Fuerza del Valle Workers' Center is raising awareness about wage theft among undocumented immigrants. “Most people do not know you can call police after they try to get their pay from an employer and the police have a duty to follow criminal law and investigate the employer," Hector Guzman Lopez, Fuerza del Valle Workers' Center coordinator, said. Under Texas Penal Code it is illegal for employers to not pay for labor regardless of the person's legal status. Basilio Castro, an undocumented immigrant, was working at an Alamo apartment complex painting and doing construction. “They liked the job so they were...

The Gang of Eight immigration bill can be summed up as amnesty now, border closing never. The Department of Homeland Security is not required to build a fence (which was ordered by the Secure Fence Act signed by President George W. Bush). DHS is required only to submit a plan. If the DHS Secretary decides she has not reached 90 percent of border security, a "trigger" kicks in: the creation of a Southern Border Security Commission empowered (horrors!) to make recommendations. After six months of pondering its mission, the Commission automatically self-liquidates, so there will never be border security. The...

Immigration will be the topic of discussion of a Tuesday morning forum with three congressmen at the University of Texas at Brownsville. Congressmen Filemon Vela (D-Harlingen), Ruben Hinojosa (D-Mercedes), and Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Chicago) in conjunction with Action 4 News will be hosting an immigration forum at Salon Cassia located on the campus of UTB. A group of lawmakers known as the “Gang of 8” released their 844-page immigration reform bill back in April. The bill is expected to be hotly debated in June. Congressman Vela has teamed up with Congressman Gutierrez to make sure voices from the Rio Grande...

Like his mentor Jack Kemp, he’s pro-immigration.This week, there was a new development in the House: Paul Ryan may be the key to passing comprehensive immigration reform. But that should hardly come as a surprise. Long before he was a vice-presidential nominee, Ryan was an adviser to former New York congressman Jack Kemp at Empower America, a conservative think tank. It was there, in his early twenties, that Ryan began to share Kemp’s politics. Beyond fiscal issues, that meant supporting pro-immigration policies, such as an expanded guest-worker program. Kemp often spoke passionately about how immigration was necessary for economic growth...

I Have Seen Shameful Things By: Erick Erickson (Diary) | April 22nd, 2013 at 04:30 AM | 30 I am an immigration squish. There are jobs Americans won’t do at the existing price point. We have a real need in this country for unskilled workers who will pick domestic crops and do jobs Americans will not do for a low wage. I know a number of people who came here illegally who are harder workers than me, who love this country, and who just want a job. More specifically, I know a number of illegal immigrants — a few of...

Connecticut will fall to the onrushing darkness of firearms prohibition, and the rest of America will too, in time. The prohibition package up for a vote in the Connecticut State Senate April 3 is a doozie: serialization and registration of commonly-available magazines, bans on magazines exceeding a paltry 10-round capacity, and prohibition by name and model of over 100 different guns. Worst of all, full registration of all firearms transfers will be required in CT; this is the Orwellian-named "universal background checks." If you want to know more about this mess, there's better reporting than mine. There are firearms owners...

Sen. Rand Paul’s filibuster didn’t thrill all of his colleagues. Almost exactly 24 hours after the Kentucky freshman began his information-seeking filibuster against CIA nominee John O. Brennan, fellow Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham took to the Senate floor to denounce his demands and say he was doing a “disservice” to the debate on drones. “I don’t think what happened yesterday was helpful to the American people,” said Mr. McCain, Republicans’ presidential nominee in 2008 — who topped Mr. Paul’s father, former Rep. Ron Paul, in that year’s primary. And where even Democrats praised Mr. Paul for using...

President Obama and Republican senators had a “good exchange of ideas” this evening during their roughly two-hour-long dinner at the posh Jefferson Hotel, just blocks from the White House, according to a senior administration official. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gave the meeting a thumbs up as he exited the hotel, saying it was “just fine,” “great” and “wonderful.” McCain told reporters gathered across the street that it was a “very enjoyable evening,” but declined to discuss specifics. Obama invited 12 GOP senators to break bread as part of a larger effort to jump start budget negotiations and try to cut...

Today's statement from Liberty Counsel: PRESS RELEASE Contact: PUBLIC RELATIONS - 877-810-1776 or Liberty@LCAction.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 29, 2013 The Time to Forge a Just Immigration Consensus is Now Mat Staver, Chairman of Liberty Counsel Action, responds to the bipartisan immigration reform proposal. Washington, DC – “It is time to forge a just immigration policy that acknowledges that we are both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. Our current immigration system is broken and it needs to be fixed. We need to secure our borders. This is a matter of national security. We need to enforce...

Just two days after President Barack Obama sailed to re-election over Mitt Romney, boosted by more than 70 percent of the Latino vote, some Republicans are striking a new tone on illegal immigration.

McALLEN, Oct. 13 - More than 400 people of faith attended a conference on immigration reform hosted by Valley Interfaith on Wednesday. The conference saw the unveiling of a new statement on the issue by Texas bishops representing numerous denominations. Among those participating were the Most Reverend Daniel Flores, Bishop, Diocese of Brownsville, the The Rt. Rev. David Reed, Bishop Suffragan, Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, the Reverend Dr. Ray Tiemann, Bishop, Southwestern Texas Synod, ELCA, the Reverend James Dorff, Bishop, San Antonio Episcopal Area United Methodist Church, and the Reverend Kelly Allen, Chair, Task Force on Immigration, Mission Presbytery,...

We are not the problem, we are part of the solution… NEW POLL SHOWS BORDER RESIDENTS FEEL SAFE According to the poll, commissioned by the Border Network for Human Rights, a community organization in El Paso, Texas, and conducted by the Reuel Group, 86.5% of border residents said they feel safe walking or driving in their neighborhood during their regular daily activities. Almost 70% said they felt their border neighborhood was as safe as most U.S. neighborhoods and 67% said they felt safe living in their border community. The poll was conducted on 1,222 border residents in three Arizona border...