Portman predicts debt deal by Thursday

With Congress and President Obama deadlocked in contentious battle over Obamacare and a possible U.S. default looming,<br /><br /><br /><img abp="2867" alt="" height="359" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/GCxglsRML3y0f9DOeD.XeQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03NDk-/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/video/video.hulu.com/8eba293dbd7da99a541d6052f4561f7b" width="640" /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Republican Sen. Rob Portman predicted that the two sides would come together by Thursday — the deadline for lawmakers to increase the nation's debt limit.</blockquote><br /><img abp="2887" alt="U.S. government shutdown" class="body-related-thumb" height="426" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/47rMxQao8J7sQljJvQQODw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTIwMDtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/4afe12376a490222400f6a706700501d.jpg" title="" width="640" /><br /><br /><br />"We will have decided as a Congress that we need to avoid going over the debt limit and we'll figure it out," Portman said on "Meet The Press" on Sunday. "And it'll probably be a relatively short-term solution."<br /><br />The Ohio Republican said that he believes lawmakers would also come to an agreement on the Affordable Care Act and end the partial government shutdown that began on Oct. 1.<br /><br />"I oppose ObamaCare, I think we ought to repeal it and replace it. And I think most Americans agree with that," Portman said. "But we can minimize the damage in this process by doing certain things that were consistent with the original ObamaCare. ... I'm not suggesting there'll be a solution to all these long-term problems in the next two days. But I do think that we'll figure out a way to put off this, to have the discussion, and I'm hopeful we'll do that actually in the next couple days."<br /><br />Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the Assistant Majority Leader of the Senate, agreed.<br /><br />"I'm a hopeful person and I believe we can do it," the Illinois senator said. "I hope sensible people prevail. Because at this point, it isn't just a shutdown and all of the damage that it's caused.  But if we default on our debt, it will have a dramatic, negative impact on the savings account and retirement account for every American."<br /><br />But Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said he couldn't foresee such a deal happening.<br /><br />"I don't see one," Graham said on "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" Sunday.<br /><br />Graham said he was worried a deal originating in the Senate would be detrimental to Republicans in the House, particularly House Speaker John Boehner.<br /><br />"Here's what I'm worried about," Graham said. "A deal coming out of the Senate, that a majority of Republicans can't vote for in the House, that really does compromise Speaker Boehner's leadership. After all this mess is over, do we really want to compromise John Boehner as leader of the House? I don't think so."<br /><br />Like other members of the GOP, Republican Rep. Raul Labrador expressed frustration with President Obama's refusal to negotiate on his signature health care law.<br /><br />"We gave the president a pretty good offer," Labrador said. "The offer was we would extend the debt ceiling without any requirement for six weeks. That's so we can continue negotiations on the debt and then we can continue also negotiation on the continuing resolution, the actual budgeting and the actual spending bill that we need to do."<br /><br />Labrador continued: "I don't see why the president is not accepting that and not working with us. I think it's been very difficult to work with him. He wouldn't come to the table to negotiate. Now that he's coming to the table, he rejected two offers. I thought that the House offer was a pretty reasonable one."

Portman predicts debt deal by Thursday

With Congress and President Obama deadlocked in contentious battle over Obamacare and a possible U.S. default looming, Republican Sen. Rob P...

Republicans Lay Blame for Impending Shutdown:video

<a href="http://thumbnail.newsinc.com/25211121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img abp="1" border="0" src="http://thumbnail.newsinc.com/25211121.jpg" /></a>House Republicans gathered on the steps of the Capitol Sunday to lay blame on the Democrats for the impending government shutdown. (Sept. 29).<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jzV-UXA-cTA?rel=0" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><br /><img abp="1" height="480" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/jzV-UXA-cTA/hqdefault.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><img abp="1" height="360" src="http://db3e4a88f6f69d1f2b9e-e2547e32b81626c4def50feb5013d410.r80.cf3.rackcdn.com/5374635-Republicans-Lay-Blame-for-Impending-Shutdown.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /><br />

Republicans Lay Blame for Impending Shutdown:video

House Republicans gathered on the steps of the Capitol Sunday to lay blame on the Democrats for the impending government shutdown. (Sept. 29...

Obama blasts those who 'mess with' him

<a href="http://col.stb00.s-msn.com/i/B5/3D5430878AF72288A87247BB2ECFEF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image: President Obama delivers remarks at a meeting of his Export Council in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, on Friday (© Yuri Gripas/CNP/Corbis)" border="0" src="http://col.stb00.s-msn.com/i/B5/3D5430878AF72288A87247BB2ECFEF.jpg" /></a>Obama strikes back at Congress: 'They're focused on trying to mess with me'.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><h3>"They're focused on politics; they're focused on trying to mess with me," Obama told a crowd at a Ford plant in Kansas City. "They're not focused on you."</h3><br /><img src="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_obama_budgetgop_130920.vembedlarge456.jpg" /><br /><br />President Barack Obama excoriated Congress for being "focused on trying to mess with me," hours after the Republican House approved a stopgap spending measure to continue government operations, but also eliminate funding for "Obamacare."<br /><br /><br />The president angrily lashed out at lawmakers who voted largely on party-lines hours earlier to take aim at the signature domestic accomplishment of his first term, the GOP's opening gambit in a fiscal standoff with just days to go until the government runs out of money.<br /><br /><h3>"They're focused on politics; they're focused on trying to mess with me," Obama told a crowd at a Ford plant in Kansas City. "They're not focused on you."</h3><br /><a href="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_boehner_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_boehner_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" /></a>The public battles came 10 days before the deadline at which the government will run out of money, causing a myriad of federal services to cease. Republicans were unable to advance legislation to preserve government operations without including the provision to eradicate the Affordable Care Act as a way to entice conservatives.<br />But the measure faces almost certain doom in the Senate, where Democrats have said they would vote to restore funding for the health care overhaul. And even if they were to fail, Obama has flatly promised to veto the bill.<br />If no resolution is reached, a shutdown threatens to harm the economy and place scores of government workers out of work for an undetermined period of time. Wall Street appeared unconcerned by the developments, though, expecting lawmakers to reach an 11th-hour accord as they have in virtually every previous showdown.<br />Complicating matters is the manner in which the fiscal deadline has split Republicans. On one side are conservatives, who wish to use the specter of a shutdown as leverage to force concessions on Obamacare. On the other side is a group of pragmatists, who regard the odds of repealing Obamacare as extremely unfavorable, and fear the political fallout associated with a shutdown.<br />"Our message to the United States Senate is very simple: the American people don't want the government shut down, and they don't want Obamacare," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told cheering colleagues after the vote.<br />With no solution on the horizon, the nation's capital braced for a tense series of days as Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress must work to find a workable solution with the badly-divided Republicans.<br /><br />Those internal GOP divisions have spilled into public view in recent days, with barbs directed toward Sen. Ted Cruz, the figurehead of the effort to defund Obamacare, after the Texas Republican conceded he lacked the votes to make good on his threat to stop Obamacare in the Senate.<br /><br />Cruz only turned up the pressure on the Republican-led House, thereby putting House Republicans in a more difficult position once the legislation inevitably returns to them.<br /><br />In that sense, Friday's vote was a bid by some Republicans to go through pained motions to demonstrate to the party's conservative grassroots that the strategy favored by Cruz and other hard-liners was doomed, and would risk a government shutdown that could turn politically dangerous for the GOP.<br />"It's something we have to do. It's a step in the right direction," Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said ahead of Friday's House vote. "And hopefully it will be a major step in letting people know that Ted Cruz is a fraud and and he'll no longer have any influence in the Republican Party."<br /><br />As an implicit acknowledgement that its work had not yet wrapped up, the House has canceled a planned recess next week in anticipation of the frenetic work it will take to cobble together a compromise to keep the government open that can win the support of Congress.<br /><br />More gravely, Congress faces a deadline sometime next month to authorize the government to borrow more money to finance its existing obligations. Even if lawmakers assemble a compromise that averts a shutdown, the prospect of defaulting on the national debt awaits them.<br /><br />Obama said that if a default were to come to pass, then, "Basically, America becomes a deadbeat."<br />The terms of that debate are still unclear. Republicans met Friday morning to discuss their strategy in that fight, and have long signaled they might seek a more modest, one-year delay of "Obamacare" in exchange for raising the debt limit.<br />In the short-term, though, action will next shift to the Senate, where Democrats command a majority of votes. The upper chamber is expected to strip any measure to undermine the Affordable Care Act from the House-passed bill, though that has invited a filibuster threat from some hard-lined conservative senators.<br />If history is any guide, several Senate Republicans -- some of whom have openly disparaged the effort to use the threat of a government shutdown as leverage to defund Obamacare -- may work to assemble a compromise spending measure to send back to the House. That could provide the contours of an eventual agreement.<br /><a href="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_cantor_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_cantor_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" /></a>Still, "Obamacare" -- the issue which once united Republicans, and helped fuel the party's victory in the 2010 midterm elections -- has now morphed into somewhat of a boondoggle for the party.<br />The GOP's strident opposition to "Obamacare" has been well-established for years. The House has voted 40-some times to do away with either part or the entirety of the law since the GOP took power in 2011, each time having seen Senate Democrats dismiss their efforts.

Obama blasts those who 'mess with' him

Obama strikes back at Congress: 'They're focused on trying to mess with me'. "They're focused on politics; they're ...

House votes to fund government,gut Obamacare

The House approved legislation on Friday to keep the government open past Sept. 30, but also to eliminate funding for "Obamacare."<br /><br /><a href="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_boehner_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_boehner_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" /></a>The vote marked an opening gambit by the GOP just 10 days before the deadline at which the government will run out of money, causing a myriad of federal services to cease. The provision gutting health care reform was intended to mollify conservatives who have vowed not to fund the government unless the landmark law is eradicated.<br /><br />But the measure faces almost certain doom in the Senate, where Democrats have said they would vote to restore funding for the Affordable Care Act. And even if they were to fail, President Barack Obama has flatly promised to veto the bill.<br /><br />The posturing by the Republican-controlled House means Washington now faces a narrow window of opportunity to reach an ever-elusive consensus over how to continue government operations, and avoid a politically-costly shutdown.<br /><br />If no resolution is reached, a shutdown threatens to harm the economy and place scores of government workers out of work for an undetermined period of time. Wall Street appeared unconcerned by the developments, though, expecting lawmakers to reach an 11th-hour accord as they have in virtually every previous showdown.<br /><br />Still, Friday's vote set up a tense series of negotiations between Obama, Republicans and Democrats in the Senate over the next 10 days. In the House, 230 lawmakers -- mostly Republicans -- voted to defund Obamacare as part of the stopgap spending measure; 189 lawmakers, mostly Democrats, opposed the legislation.<br /><a href="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_cantor_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Video/__NEW/f_cantor_voterally_130920.284;213;7;70;2.jpg" /></a>"Our message to the United States Senate is very simple: the American people don't want the government shut down, and they don't want Obamacare," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told cheering colleagues after the vote.<br /><br /><br />But the vote was hardly the conclusion of the debate on Capitol Hill over health care reform, and a possible government shutdown. As an implicit acknowledgement that its work had not yet wrapped up, the House has canceled a planned recess next week in anticipation of the frenetic work it will take to cobble together a compromise to keep the government open that can win the support of Congress.<br /><br />As the GOP readied the vote, Obama traveled to Kansas, where he was expected to sharply denounce the GOP's approach to the fiscal impasse.<br /><br />"The last thing we can afford right now is a decision by a minority of Republicans in Congress to throw our economy back into crisis by refusing to pay our country's bills or shutting down the government," said a White House official on Friday morning. "Instead of playing politics with the economy, Republicans in Congress should join the president to focus on creating a better bargain for the middle class."<br /><br />The action will next play out in the Senate, where Democrats command a majority of votes. The upper chamber is expected to strip any measure to undermine the Affordable Care Act from the House-passed bill, though that has invited a filibuster threat from some hard-lined conservative senators.<br /><br />But if history is any guide, several Senate Republicans -- at least 13 of whom have openly disparaged the effort to use the threat of a government shutdown as leverage to defund Obamacare -- may work to assemble a compromise spending measure to send back to the House. That could provide the contours of an eventual agreement.<br /><br />Still looming, though, is the more politically-tricky prospect of having to authorize increased government borrowing -- known as the debt limit -- sometime next month. Republicans met Friday morning to discuss their strategy in that fight, and have long signaled they might seek a more modest, one-year delay of "Obamacare" in exchange for raising the debt limit.<br /><br />Republicans' strident opposition to "Obamacare" has been well-established for years. The House has voted 40-some times to do away with either part or the entirety of the law since the GOP took power in 2011, each time having seen Senate Democrats dismiss their efforts.<br /><br />This time, though, the strategy badly split Republicans, cleaving conservative hard-liners who had campaigned on doing as much as possible to eliminate the law from more pragmatic Republican lawmakers who have argued that the strategy is unrealistic, given the partisan makeup of the Senate.<br /><br />The internal divisions have spilled into public view in recent days, with barbs directed toward Sen. Ted Cruz, the figurehead of the effort to defund Obamacare, after the Texas Republican conceded he lacked the votes to make good on his threat to stop Obamacare in the Senate.<br /><br />Cruz only turned up the pressure on the GOP-led House, thereby putting House Republicans in a more difficult position once the legislation inevitably returns to them.<br /><br />In that sense, Friday's vote was a bid by some Republicans to go through pained motions to demonstrate to the party's conservative grassroots that the strategy favored by Cruz and other hard-liners was doomed, and would risk a government shutdown that could turn politically dangerous for the GOP.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8i9sE0krwqAp_XLT8cvxG3EmAE1STCUa8trL8GzC13rWbodK7Rrs2tbS3kN22BlbPlVhHxsgOZ-55F5UyWFAD0rFGelbFUozNpeXyvG1UHY31Wt-eIY51CCsI7WJUtWPAeU4wQ9h-WRw/s1600/EricCantor-PaulRyan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8i9sE0krwqAp_XLT8cvxG3EmAE1STCUa8trL8GzC13rWbodK7Rrs2tbS3kN22BlbPlVhHxsgOZ-55F5UyWFAD0rFGelbFUozNpeXyvG1UHY31Wt-eIY51CCsI7WJUtWPAeU4wQ9h-WRw/s1600/EricCantor-PaulRyan.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />"It's something we have to do. It's a step in the right direction," Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said ahead of Friday's House vote. "And hopefully it will be a major step in letting people know that Ted Cruz is a fraud and and he'll no longer have any influence in the Republican Party."

House votes to fund government,gut Obamacare

The House approved legislation on Friday to keep the government open past Sept. 30, but also to eliminate funding for "Obamacare."...

House passes GOP plan for $39B cut in food stamps

<h3>Bill demonstrates a bitter philosophical divide between Democrats and Republicans over the social safety net.</h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEkFkmLsHNXS9qcqCW5U1lygbm9OPq2UOMIDnHJN5SSei7lGdNJE5r7m_7Cr7lEzFxp7fadcRNXKzTu5GNEvns2drc_H3eaJB6aX33KrgIgH6s6LHfwALSe9E-pZJuhJ1tiJsUgTMzgw/s1600/gop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEkFkmLsHNXS9qcqCW5U1lygbm9OPq2UOMIDnHJN5SSei7lGdNJE5r7m_7Cr7lEzFxp7fadcRNXKzTu5GNEvns2drc_H3eaJB6aX33KrgIgH6s6LHfwALSe9E-pZJuhJ1tiJsUgTMzgw/s1600/gop.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />The House approved a Republican plan Thursday to cut food stamps by $39 billion during the next decade, setting up a showdown with Democrats over the program used by nearly 48 million low-income Americans.<br /><br />The House voted 217-210 for the bill that cuts nearly twice as much from food stamps as a bill the House rejected in June. It is also far more than a Senate measure passed earlier this year that would trim about $4.5 billion in spending. The bill failed to draw the support of a single Democrat, many of whom have said the steep cuts would erode a key safety net depended upon by families with children, seniors, veterans and people looking for work.<br /><br />Fifteen Republicans also voted against the bill.<br /><br />Republicans argued that the bill would restore the program's original eligibility limits and preserve the safety net for the truly needy.<br /><br />The bill would cause 3 million people to lose benefits while another 850,000 would see their benefits cut, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The White House threatened Wednesday to veto the bill, calling food stamps one of the "nation's strongest defenses against hunger and poverty."<br /><br />The battle over food stamps has left in limbo the future of farm policy, and slowed efforts to write a new five-year, $500 billion farm bill. The current law expires on Sept. 30.<br /><br />In June, the House rejected the farm bill in a floor vote that was seen as a major setback to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. Democrats argued that the cuts in the bill were too severe, and Republicans opposed the bill because of costs they said were still too high.<br /><br />A few weeks later, the House broke the farm bill into two separate chunks, narrowly approving the subsidy and conservation section but reserving the food stamp portion for later.<br /><br />The cost of food stamps — officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — has exploded over the past decade, according to the Department of Agriculture. In 2001, the program served 17 million people at a cost of just over $15 billion. By June of this year, there were 47.8 million people enrolled in the program, and annual costs were about $75 billion.<br /><br />Republicans argue that the growth has been fueled by allowing states to waive eligibility requirements, allowing more people to enroll in the program than the law originally intended.<br /><br />The bill originally passed by the House Agriculture Committee would have cut $20 billion from the program over 10 years, in large part by limiting the ability of states to automatically qualify people who are already enrolled in other anti-poverty programs. Earlier this week, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., introduced a new version of the bill that boosts the cuts to nearly $40 billion by adding stiffer requirements for many able-bodied recipients to be working or looking for work or in a job-training program. The bill does not include new funding for job training.<br /><br />The Congressional Budget Office estimated that under current law, "spending for SNAP would total $764 billion over the 2014-2023 period." Passage of the House bill would reduce those costs by $39 billion or about a 5%.<br /><br />Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, told USA TODAY's Capital Download on Thursday that Democrats are not opposed to food stamp cuts.<br /><br />"I'm certain that we could embrace as House Democrats some measure of cuts," she said. "I mean, every program can benefit from some savings. But the first go-round the Republicans' proposed cut was $20 billion. Then they passed an amendment that was $31.4 billion. And now that still isn't good enough for the Tea Partiers. Now we're at $40 billion. What they're saying is that in America it's OK for people to go hungry."<br /><br />But Agriculture Committee member Mike Conaway, R-Texas, said Thursday "we are not talking about eliminating the SNAP program." The goal of the bill, he said, is to "limit the public assistance program to those who qualify and close loopholes that have allowed people to game the system." The changes will help "keep the safety net intact for qualified families," he said.<br /><br />Despite the divide between Republicans and Democrats over food stamps, lawmakers in the House and the Senate are expected to move quickly to try to write a farm bill that includes both food stamps and agricultural programs.<br /><br />Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, said Thursday, ""House Republicans' vote to deny nutrition assistance to hungry, low-income Americans is shameful. The Senate will never pass such hateful, punitive legislation."<br /><br /><h3>If Congress cannot pass a bill, the food stamp program would continue in its present state, with no cuts.</h3><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PwF5z-WOvcbrC1YyLOqZMu2W3lQ319Q8DN6U56O_sHjjHz_U4q9d8GxhBE2ITqpuuq0JSZiscmXMf3Xoe1lkzDsIS85K2t4GQBgc-1Npv23dkarlfPrpnReTW-tQvIqTdZaILXNqEWg/s1600/index.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PwF5z-WOvcbrC1YyLOqZMu2W3lQ319Q8DN6U56O_sHjjHz_U4q9d8GxhBE2ITqpuuq0JSZiscmXMf3Xoe1lkzDsIS85K2t4GQBgc-1Npv23dkarlfPrpnReTW-tQvIqTdZaILXNqEWg/s1600/index.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />

House passes GOP plan for $39B cut in food stamps

Bill demonstrates a bitter philosophical divide between Democrats and Republicans over the social safety net. The House approved a Republica...

Romney warns GOP:"Don't shut down government"

<b>Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney tells Republicans in Congress to exercise 'great care' in talk of shutting down government in bid to repeal Obamacare.</b><br /><br /><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Mitt Romney warns GOP about shutting down government: Ex-nominee wades into Obamacare, spending debate." class="image" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/7c/9da5c6947ffce2e8b338fbcbe314/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 15, 2013.</td></tr></tbody></table><br />WOLFEBORO, N.H. — Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney jumped into the debate over the GOP's future Tuesday night, warning congressional Republicans against forcing a government shutdown in their quest to stop President Barack Obama's signature health care law.<br /><br />Romney addressed more than 200 donors on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee at a fundraiser for the New Hampshire Republican Party, staged just four miles from the vacation home where he has spent much of the summer with his family. The event was closed to the media, but his office released his prepared remarks.<br /><br /><br />Romney, 66, warned congressional Republicans against letting emotions drive their decisions.<br /><br />"I badly want Obamacare to go away, and stripping it of funds has appeal. But we need to exercise great care about any talk of shutting down government," Romney said in the first speech of its kind since his November election loss to Obama. "What would come next when soldiers aren't paid, when seniors fear for their Medicare and Social Security, and when the FBI is off duty?"<br /><br />He continued: "I'm afraid that in the final analysis, Obamacare would get its funding, our party would suffer in the next elections, and the people of the nation would not be happy. I think there are better ways to remove Obamacare."<br /><br />Romney did not criticize anyone by name, but he dismissed the very strategy employed by some of his party's biggest names — potential 2016 presidential candidates among them. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah are urging Republicans to swear off voting for any year-end spending bill that includes money for the president's health care law. Parts of the federal government would shut down on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn't approve a short-term funding bill before then.<br /><br /><br />Several Republicans on Capitol Hill have attacked the plan to strip health care funding from the spending bill in unusually harsh language, although Romney has been silent on this — and virtually every other public debate — for much of the last nine months.<br /><br />It's unclear what role the former Massachusetts governor hopes to play for the GOP. He has hinted at a desire to remain an active voice on major policy debates, and he maintains ties to a powerful national fundraising operation.<br /><br />His presence at the New Hampshire GOP fundraiser Tuesday night helped raise tens of thousands of dollars, according to organizers, which is considered a large haul for a state party so long before the next election. Donors paid between $100 and $1,500 and traveled from as far as California to attend the event, which was held at a lakeside mansion used in 2007 as a vacation home for French President Nicolas Sarkozy.<br /><br />In his speech, Romney acknowledged that some Republicans may not care for his perspective given his recent loss.<br /><br />"I'm probably not the first person you'd ask for advice," he said. "But because we all learn from our mistakes, I may have a thought or two of value."<br /><br />He called on Republicans to "stay smart," in part, by backing candidates who can win. And as the pool of potential candidates for the 2016 presidential contest begins to grow, Romney suggested that most are not electable.<br /><br />"My guess is that every one of the contenders would be better than whoever the Democrats put up," he said. "But there will only be one or perhaps two who actually could win the election in November."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEkFkmLsHNXS9qcqCW5U1lygbm9OPq2UOMIDnHJN5SSei7lGdNJE5r7m_7Cr7lEzFxp7fadcRNXKzTu5GNEvns2drc_H3eaJB6aX33KrgIgH6s6LHfwALSe9E-pZJuhJ1tiJsUgTMzgw/s1600/gop.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXEkFkmLsHNXS9qcqCW5U1lygbm9OPq2UOMIDnHJN5SSei7lGdNJE5r7m_7Cr7lEzFxp7fadcRNXKzTu5GNEvns2drc_H3eaJB6aX33KrgIgH6s6LHfwALSe9E-pZJuhJ1tiJsUgTMzgw/s640/gop.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>

Romney warns GOP:"Don't shut down government"

Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney tells Republicans in Congress to exercise 'great care' in talk of shutting down government i...

Republicans "rip" Obama proposal to trade tax cut for more stimulus.

President Obama riled Republicans on Tuesday as he floated a jobs-policy "grand bargain" that would trade a corporate tax cut for more stimulus-style spending -- a move Republicans said was hardly a compromise.<br /><br />"This proposal allows President Obama to support President Obama's position on taxes and President Obama's position on spending, while leaving small businesses and American families behind," said Michael Steel, spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOkvyIZdrBerm4K77UDoqkuRh5kheb-uBSpZ6mhNTGLeO9p0CBRir9uxfU1-U243YActoYUlRqig2r6uYkdNa_QuaVt9Xc9YGSDhBRqjlD7bWRYMn0VIzYlv9L1TZxPXDNdO3kV3mCrmI/s1600/report.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOkvyIZdrBerm4K77UDoqkuRh5kheb-uBSpZ6mhNTGLeO9p0CBRir9uxfU1-U243YActoYUlRqig2r6uYkdNa_QuaVt9Xc9YGSDhBRqjlD7bWRYMn0VIzYlv9L1TZxPXDNdO3kV3mCrmI/s1600/report.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Obama used a trip to an Amazon.com distribution center in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Tuesday to propose what aides called a "grand bargain for middle-class jobs." It is part of the president's most recent pivot back to the economy, which Obama is trying to punctuate with a series of jobs-themed speeches and visits.<br /><br />"I'm just going to keep on throwing ideas out there," Obama told a crowd of supporters, challenging Republicans to offer counterproposals.<br /><br />Obama long has called for a cut in corporate tax rates, but previously insisted such business tax reform be coupled with an individual tax overhaul.<br /><br />He's dropping the latter demand and now says he wants the corporate tax rate cut to be coupled with a significant investment on some sort of job creation program, such as manufacturing, infrastructure or community colleges.<br /><br />"I want to use some of the money that we save by closing these loopholes to create more good construction jobs," the president said.<br /><br />But Republicans cast the proposal as just another avenue for more Obama-preferred spending.<br />Plus Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell suggested the move could suck the wind out of an effort by a bipartisan duo on Capitol Hill to push for broad-based tax reform this year.<br /><br />McConnell, on the floor said the proposal "represents a serious blow to one of the best chances for true bipartisan action in Washington."<br /><br />He called it a "rebuke" to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who along with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., is trying to build support nationally for a massive tax code overhaul.<br /><br />Camp and Baucus, though, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying they "welcome the president's recognition that our broken, outdated tax code is making it harder for U.S. companies to compete and American families to get ahead."  <br /><br />Senior administration officials described the corporate tax proposal as the first new economic idea Obama plans to offer in the coming months, with budget deadlines looming in the fall.<br /><br />Administration officials wouldn't put a price tag on the proposal or say how much would be a "significant" investment in jobs since the dollar figures would be part of negotiations with Congress.<br /><br />But in an example from this year's State of the Union address, Obama proposed $50 billion to put Americans to work repairing roads and bridges and other construction jobs.<br /><br />A "fact sheet" put out by the White House on Tuesday morning called for new spending on infrastructure, new efforts to leverage private funds for the same purpose, the creation of "manufacturing innovation institutes" and more funding for community colleges and training.<br /><br />The officials said money to pay for the jobs creation ideas would come from a one-time revenue boost from measures such as changing depreciation rules or having a one-time fee on earnings held overseas.<br /><br />"As part of his efforts to focus Washington on the middle class, today in Tennessee the president will call on Washington to work on a grand bargain focused on middle-class jobs by pairing reform of the business tax code with a significant investment in middle-class jobs," Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer said.<br /><br />Obama spokes at an Amazon fulfillment center in Chattanooga, one of more than a dozen warehouses operated by the world's largest online retailer, which announced Monday that it would increase hiring.<br /><br />The company said it would add 7,000 new jobs, including 5,000 more at U.S. distribution centers that currently employ about 20,000 workers who pack and ship customer orders. Amazon.com Inc. has been spending heavily on order fulfillment to help its business grow.<br /><br />Obama toured the packing floor of the Chattanooga warehouse, which opened in September 2011. It is one of the company's largest and newest facilities, with more than 1 million square feet -- the size of more than 28 football fields full of merchandise.<br /><br />The plant was the source of tax controversy when it opened; Amazon originally was granted an indefinite waiver on collecting sales tax in a deal to bring two distribution centers to Tennessee.<br /><br />The state's retailers were outraged that they were put at a competitive disadvantage, and Amazon has agreed to start collecting Tennessee sales tax next year.<br /><br />The White House said Obama wasn't visiting Amazon because of the company's position on taxes, but because it's an example of a successful American business growing and creating more jobs.<br /><br />Obama proposed last year to overhaul corporate taxes by lowering rates from the current 35 percent to 28 percent, with an even lower effective tax rate of 25 percent for manufacturers.<br /><br />The U.S. has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world, but many businesses avoid the full cost by taking advantage of deductions, credits and exemptions that Obama wants to eliminate.<br /><br />Obama wants to do away with corporate tax benefits like oil and natural gas industry subsidies, special breaks for the purchase of private jets and certain corporate tax shelters. He also wants to impose a minimum tax on foreign earnings, a move opposed by multinational corporations and perhaps the most contentious provision in the president's plan.

Republicans "rip" Obama proposal to trade tax cut for more stimulus.

President Obama riled Republicans on Tuesday as he floated a jobs-policy "grand bargain" that would trade a corporate tax cut for ...

GOP wrestles with immigration reform consequences

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuKL3VwkvBfDllyEVovnptEFC-YCkFUFPwftT6aInOcw0HXASm2ND34tJ02g3ohdG2XCAhyphenhyphenwYx8rYlQ3t_sew9DifAtTDFHqNFmVrt5HDgtgGnwFIUzWOFnqgJSBlA_NemwJX6RwJ0RQ/s1600/gop.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuKL3VwkvBfDllyEVovnptEFC-YCkFUFPwftT6aInOcw0HXASm2ND34tJ02g3ohdG2XCAhyphenhyphenwYx8rYlQ3t_sew9DifAtTDFHqNFmVrt5HDgtgGnwFIUzWOFnqgJSBlA_NemwJX6RwJ0RQ/s1600/gop.png" width="320" /></a>Some Republican lawmakers are increasingly facing a tough choice – support a comprehensive immigration bill and face a backlash from their own voters or oppose efforts to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented workers and contribute to larger GOP losses in the future.   <br /><br />Republican strategists are already fretting about the long-term implications for the party if they reject a comprehensive immigration bill, but that’s a bitter pill for conservative activists to swallow, who are promising primary challenges and substantial blowback if lawmakers back reform.<br /><br />With fewer and fewer competitive House districts and Senate lawmakers who voted for the reform bill passed last week already facing threats of primary challenges, conservative activists are threatening to kill the effort, and it’s one reason GOP leadership and House Speaker John Boehner has been hesitant to even bring up the Senate bill for a vote.<br /><br />Practically speaking, immigration’s failure or success will likely have little bearing on the partisan outcome of the 2014 midterms. Lawmakers’ individual primary re-election concerns, mostly in the House, is what’s driving much of the resistance to a bipartisan immigration bill that would provide a path to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants.<br /><br />But Republican leaders, who began pushing for reform after they lost the White House in 2012, know the bill’s demise could be a greater omen for 2016, when the GOP faces a growing Hispanic electorate that’s sure to be even more important in the next presidential election.<br /><br />One national GOP strategist called the current debate “a mild short-term headache for which the party can take two Advil,” and noted it wasn’t as contentious as 2006, when another attempt at reform fell flat. Back then, a bill passed the Senate – when 23 GOP senators voted for it, compared to 14 last week --  but the bill died in an even less-conservative House controlled by Democrats.<br /><br />Without a majority of the caucus behind the bill the Senate passed last week with a 68-32 vote, Boehner has said he won’t bring the bill to the floor. Many Republicans still remain optimistic the bill still has a path forward, whether in conference committee or through a new bill from a bipartisan working group in the House.<br /><br />But with the conservative base now abuzz in opposition to an immigration bill they say is akin to amnesty -- despite the 10 years it would take to get a green card, and another three-year waiting period before immigrants can apply for citizenship-- lawmakers in safe districts could especially feel the pull in 2014 -- and that’s fueling much of their skepticism.<br /><br />“These people aren’t controlled. They’re doing their own thing,” said another national Republican consultant of House members already up in arms against the bill. “Primary challenges come from conservative districts, and they don’t care if they upset leadership because there’s no consequences.”<br /><br />Party leaders know immigration is a problem they must come up with a solution too before demographics move even further away from them in the coming decade. In their post-2012 autopsy, the Republican National Committee wrote that the GOP “must embrace and champion comprehensive immigration reform” to reach out to the Hispanic community, and  “if we do not, our Party’s appeal will continue to shrink to its core constituencies only.”<br /><br />Potential 2016 hopefuls have had to do a delicate dance, too. Former House firebrand Allen West has threatened a primary challenge against Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Another possible candidate, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, voted against the measure, saying it wasn’t tough enough on border security though he’s indicated in the past he could support a pathway to citizenship.<br /><br />Further alienating Hispanic voters could have a bigger impact in a presidential year for the GOP though. In 2012, Latinos made up 10% of the electorate -- and voted 71% for Obama, according to national exit polls. That’s an uptick from 2008, when 9% of the national electorate was Hispanic, and voted 67% for Obama.<br /><br />In 2010, a GOP midterm wave year though, the numbers were better for Republicans. Latino voters made up just 8% of the electorate, and 60% of those said they supported Democrats. But with the economy and health care dominating the conversation, just 8% of all voters said illegal immigration was the most important issue.<br /><br />Democrats see it as another issue where they can point to a dysfunctional Republican Congress, hoping that positioning themselves as the party of compromise can help their brand even as they face fewer competitive House seats.<br /><br />Last week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent a memo to its caucus pointing out 23 “persuadable” GOP lawmakers who represent significant Hispanic populations and would be “out-of-step with major groups in their districts if House Republicans fail to deliver a solution.”<br /><br />Many of those are in competitive or potentially competitive House seats, including California Republicans Gary Miller, David Valadao and Jeff Denham. Miller, arguably the most vulnerable GOP incumbent, sits in the most Democratic seat held by Republican, and only won re-election with help from an election fluke after no Democrat advanced past the state’s new top-two primary. Other vulnerable incumbents, including Colorado Rep. Mike Coffman, New York Rep. Michael Grimm and Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, are also targeted<br /><br />A coalition of immigrant and labor groups are also <a class="opennew" href="http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/immigration-campaign-to-target-11-house-republicans/#more-246083" target="_blank">targeting House leadership with radio ads and on social media</a>,hoping to push the House to a vote.<br /><br />But Democrats aren’t just looking for a solution -- they’re looking for ammunition too. This week the DCCC also launched RepublicansInTheirOwnWords.com -- inviting submissions for outlandish GOP statements “so members of the public can peruse House Republicans’ positions on immigration – in their own words.”<br /><br />These races likely won’t be won or lost on immigration alone, with the economy, health care, and a variety of other important issues coming into play -- and there’s no guarantee even Latino voters will base their vote solely on an immigration vote, but to Democrats it plays into a greater message of a worsening GOP brand.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>

GOP wrestles with immigration reform consequences

Some Republican lawmakers are increasingly facing a tough choice – support a comprehensive immigration bill and face a backlash from their o...

Disorder among U.S.Republicans over immigration bill

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMGovkdBJmy7epploPxPkwLBknTF-nBaw96sGtXN3mLJvzd1evSY3hkkj5RU5YbtDwKsYS04TnuMjuQ_wwJBvUT9jqZeV5cddRlZ5C9LLmguuZ5Ei_p1CucS4uCDzgUmnAXbumSATfJs/s128/P-USA.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMGovkdBJmy7epploPxPkwLBknTF-nBaw96sGtXN3mLJvzd1evSY3hkkj5RU5YbtDwKsYS04TnuMjuQ_wwJBvUT9jqZeV5cddRlZ5C9LLmguuZ5Ei_p1CucS4uCDzgUmnAXbumSATfJs/s128/P-USA.png" /></a>WASHINGTON, July 27 - U.S. Republicans are in disarray over an immigration overhaul bill that is making its way through Congress, with some hailing the legislation and others lampooning it.<br /><br />The bill includes plans to spend more than 40 billion U.S. dollars to beef up the U.S.-Mexico border with thousands of additional law enforcement personnel. It also provides a 13-year path to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants, whereby they would pay fines and back taxes before becoming eligible for legal status.<br /><br />Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that House Speaker John Boehner does not control his Republican caucus. He noted that many Republicans oppose the bill, including the pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.<br /><br />Another major disagreement among Republicans is border security. Republican opponents of the bill argue that securing the border will take time, if not years, and contend that border security must happen before undocumented workers are provided a path to citizenship.<br /><br />But the bill's GOP supporters contend that the legislation's provision to provide an additional 20,000 border agents will significantly ratchet up border security.<br /><br />Republican Senator John McCain has come out strongly in favor of the bill. He told CNN's "New Day" program on Tuesday that the legislation would "militarize" the U.S.-Mexico border.<br /><br />The statement came on the heels of comments by Senator Rand Paul, a member of the Tea Party movement, who said Sunday that the bill was "dead on arrival" in the House, arguing that border security must precede immigration reform.<br /><br />Critics also said allowing a path to citizenship would lower wages for the lower middle class and working class, as unskilled, new immigrants from developing countries are more likely to accept lower wages. Others dismiss that argument, countering there will be little impact on wages.<br /><br />Former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan on Tuesday told CBS' "This Morning" that the bill's provisions, which toughen border security with new agents and billions of dollars worth of high tech equipment including infrared cameras, "obviously makes final legislation more likely."<br /><br />In sharp contrast to Republicans, Democrats have remained unified on the bill, with President Barack Obama touting the legislation as key to ensuring continued success for the world's largest economy.<br /><br />The bill is expected to sail through the Senate this week, but will have a tougher time getting through he House, experts said.<br /><br />Some senators, however, questioned the urgency of passing the bill so soon. Senator Paul said Wednesday that he would have liked to introduce an amendment that would prohibit undocumented workers from receiving welfare payments. He questioned Congress' need to push the bill through the Senate this week.

Disorder among U.S.Republicans over immigration bill

WASHINGTON, July 27 - U.S. Republicans are in disarray over an immigration overhaul bill that is making its way through Congress, with some ...

McCain:U.S.will have 'the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall'

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that an amendment to a US immigration bill would cause the US to have the “most militarized border” since the Berlin Wall came down in 1989.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1qpuxF0rdQJV2xQn6OIcEapihS6RLNW6bjYsBp0z5vRahAfc0lzJvISE9M-Njk4fPvgzXuFFqPJA-mNti4scY4lSc4WMCF2CcVIRmDfvBd_1buB4L4F7DX3MYa0LQRAvTMdBaVKAHSw/s1600/john-mccain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT1qpuxF0rdQJV2xQn6OIcEapihS6RLNW6bjYsBp0z5vRahAfc0lzJvISE9M-Njk4fPvgzXuFFqPJA-mNti4scY4lSc4WMCF2CcVIRmDfvBd_1buB4L4F7DX3MYa0LQRAvTMdBaVKAHSw/s1600/john-mccain.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John McCain (Win McNamee / Getty Images / AFP)</td></tr></tbody></table><br />A bipartisan amendment to the “Gang of Eight” immigration bill would double the number of Border Patrol agents from 20,000 to 40,000, fund construction of 700 miles of fencing along the US-Mexico border, and provide billions of dollars for advanced surveillance equipment.<br /><br />Many Republican lawmakers have refused to support the immigration reform bill as it currently stands, arguing that it does little to enforce the border.<br /><br />The Senate advanced an amendment to the legislation with a 67-27 vote last Monday, winning significant support from Republican lawmakers and instilling hope that the immigration reform bill could make it through the upper chamber. But although the amendment would strengthen the border, it would also rival the security at the former Berlin Wall, McCain said in a CNN interview.<br /><br />"The legislation concerning beefed up border security removes any validity to the argument that border security is not sufficient," McCain said of the amendment, which was authored by Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.).<br /><br />"I mean this is not only sufficient, it is well over-sufficient,” he added. “We'll be the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall. That's why I think this amendment was very important.”<br /><br />The most secure version of the Berlin Wall, which formerly served to prevent emigration from East Germany, was reinforced with a smooth pipe to make it difficult to scale. It was surrounded by mesh fencing, trenches, barbed wire, attack dogs, and beds of nails under balconies that were hanging over the border. Border security guards were stationed at 116 watchtowers and 20 bunkers, and received “shoot to kill” orders if anyone tried to illegally cross it.<br /><br />According to the Centre for Contemporary History, 136 deaths have been attributed to border crossing attempts at the Berlin Wall. And although the US-Mexico border would use different security methods than East Germany, it would be the most secure since the fall of the Berlin Wall – a comparison that McCain believes would garner support for the amendment. <br /><br />"This is a border security measure which I think should suffice to satisfy any critic and it is a tough way forward and it is a way forward, a tough way forward so that we can resolve this and bring 11 million people out of the shadows," McCain said.<br /><br />If the amendment is passed and the reform bill implemented, the US border fence would be seven times as long as the Berlin Wall and have four times as many agents to guard it. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" width="640" /></a></div>

McCain:U.S.will have 'the most militarized border since the fall of the Berlin Wall'

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said that an amendment to a US immigration bill would cause the US to have the “most militarized border” since th...

Senate rejects Republican effort to gut immigration bill

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="US Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) listens to a question during the 2009 Reuters Washington Summit in Washington, October 19, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst" height="425" src="http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20130613&t=2&i=740908415&w=460&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBRE95C14ZC00" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">US Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) listens to a question during the 2009 Reuters Washington Summit in Washington, October 19, 2009.</td></tr></tbody></table></div><br />The Democratic-led U.S. Senate on Thursday rejected a Republican amendment that foes said would have undermined a key element of the White House-backed bill that aims to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants.<br />Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa said the defeat of his amendment, 57-43, broke a promise by President Barack Obama's Democrats to permit an "open debate" on the landmark immigration legislation. Democrats forced a vote after little discussion.<br /><br />Grassley's amendment would have required the Obama administration to certify "effective control" of the entire southwestern border of the United States before any of the 11 million undocumented residents now here could begin applying for legal status.<br /><br />As written, the legislation would allow those living in the United States illegally to apply for legal status within six months of enactment. Democrats and some Republicans have made this provision a core element, and bipartisan support is considered essential for passage of the bill.<br /><br />Referring to Grassley's amendment, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York said, "We all know that will take years and years and years" for the federal government to certify that no illegal entries were happening at the U.S.-Mexico border.<br /><br />But Grassley argued that his amendment would strengthen the immigration bill by ensuring there is "true border security before legalization (of the undocumented) and that's what the people of this country want."<br /><br />Grassley said the Democratic leadership's use of a procedural maneuver to quickly dispose of his amendment showed that the promised "fair and open process is a farce."<br /><br />The vote marked the first skirmish on a bill that is expected to be debated through the end of this month.<br /><br />Later on Thursday, the Senate is expected to tackle additional amendments to the bill.<br /><br />Meanwhile, behind the scenes, a bipartisan group of senators was trying to negotiate a deal on how to toughen border security measures without offending the delicate coalition of senators now supporting the bill.<br /><br />In this first vote on an amendment, five Republicans joined 50 Democrats and two independents in voting to reject it. Two Democrats and 41 Republicans opposed the procedural move to kill it.<br /><br />The entire "Gang of Eight" senators, four Democrats and four Republicans who wrote the bipartisan bill, helped reject the amendment.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PwF5z-WOvcbrC1YyLOqZMu2W3lQ319Q8DN6U56O_sHjjHz_U4q9d8GxhBE2ITqpuuq0JSZiscmXMf3Xoe1lkzDsIS85K2t4GQBgc-1Npv23dkarlfPrpnReTW-tQvIqTdZaILXNqEWg/s1600/index.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PwF5z-WOvcbrC1YyLOqZMu2W3lQ319Q8DN6U56O_sHjjHz_U4q9d8GxhBE2ITqpuuq0JSZiscmXMf3Xoe1lkzDsIS85K2t4GQBgc-1Npv23dkarlfPrpnReTW-tQvIqTdZaILXNqEWg/s1600/index.png" /></a></div><br />

Senate rejects Republican effort to gut immigration bill

US Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) listens to a question during the 2009 Reuters Washington Summit in Washington, October 19, 2009. The Demo...

GOP ready to push Benghazi case into 2014, beyond

<b>WASHINGTON — Steady drips of information about a horrific night in Libya are fueling Republican arguments and ads designed to fire up the conservative base and undercut the Democrats' early favorite for president in 2016. </b> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcWtuxHJbhyphenhyphenNOwOX4iuHSpaEHuKZDkYgGbTO4NS5i0DyUlfUg8CamebgqEhf9rSdT9QKWyWU2HCjSnA9cQjQRyzCAhGJHeF7TXHBHO9gwa2-m6hrSX0toqnGhKpdLfO_9T1LDBbQ_QhU1/s1600/WX1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJcWtuxHJbhyphenhyphenNOwOX4iuHSpaEHuKZDkYgGbTO4NS5i0DyUlfUg8CamebgqEhf9rSdT9QKWyWU2HCjSnA9cQjQRyzCAhGJHeF7TXHBHO9gwa2-m6hrSX0toqnGhKpdLfO_9T1LDBbQ_QhU1/s1600/WX1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h4>FILE - This June 7, 2012 file photo shows U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice listening during a news conference at the UN. Senior State Department officials pressed for changes in the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used after the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya last September, expressing concerns that Congress might criticize the Obama administration for ignoring warnings of a growing threat in Benghazi.</h4></td></tr></tbody></table>Democratic and Republican strategists sharply disagree on the issue's power to influence elections next year and beyond. But after eight months of trying, Democrats are still struggling to move past last September's terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, which killed ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Democrats insist that an independent inquiry, the dismissal of several State Department officials, and nine congressional hearings leave little new to say on the matter. But Friday turned up the sort of nuggets that feed conservative activists' belief that a major scandal may still be at hand. Newly revealed communications show that senior State Department officials pressed for changes in the talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used a few days after the Benghazi attacks. These senior officials expressed concerns that Congress might criticize the Obama administration for ignoring warnings of a growing threat in Libya. The White House has insisted that it made only stylistic changes to the intelligence agency talking points, in which Rice suggested that spontaneous protests over an anti-Islamic video set off the deadly attack. The new details suggest a greater degree of political sensitivity and involvement by the White House and State Department. Rice and others eventually acknowledged that the Benghazi assault on Sept. 11, 2012, was a premeditated terrorist attack. Republicans say her Sept. 16 televised remarks were just the start of administration efforts to mislead Americans about what happened in Libya.  The Benghazi violence was heavily politicized from the start, occurring less than two months before President Barack Obama's re-election.  Moreover, the secretary of state at the time was Hillary Rodham Clinton.  The former senator and first lady infuriates many conservatives and ranks high in speculation about the Democrats' 2016 presidential nominee.  Friday brought another round of conservative broadsides against Clinton, Obama and the administration's handling of the Benghazi matter. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a possible Republican presidential contender, wrote an opinion piece in The Washington Times restating his view that Obama should have fired Clinton.  Campaigning later in Iowa, Paul said he thinks the Benghazi affair "precludes Hillary Clinton from ever holding office."  The conservative group American Crossroads released a 90-second video asking if Clinton was "part of a cover-up."  The video, like emails and letters from several other groups, asked for political donations.  The Benghazi tragedy hands Republicans a host of political opportunities, although none without complications. It may be difficult for average voters to sift through the chronology, assess blame, or even follow the logic of GOP arguments. For instance, claims that Clinton and others ignored calls for greater diplomatic security in Libya might be linked to the four American deaths. But accusations about the post-attack talking points — which sometimes seem to dominate the current debate — have nothing to do with possibly preventing the deaths, thus robbing them of that moral heft. Democrats note that a major independent inquiry into Benghazi, issued in December, found that the State Department badly mishandled security needs in Libya.  But it blamed officials no higher than the assistant secretary of state level. Republican strategist Kyle Downey said Benghazi already exposes a trove of Democratic vulnerabilities, which might grow as inquiries continue.  He said Republicans should use the findings to challenge the competence, truthfulness and judgment of Clinton, Obama and other administration officials.  Republicans, Downey said, should let the politics play out in terms of which charges gain the most traction. Some strategists say the Benghazi narrative may prove more valuable for congressional Republicans in next year's elections than in 2016, which is far off. House Republicans, in particular, can seize on Benghazi to motivate their base and donors, and to fend off possible primary challenges from the right.  Democrats say Republicans are nakedly exploiting the Benghazi deaths, and voters won't like it.  "Republicans are a desperate party right now, trying to do whatever they can to dirty up the president to make some gains in 2014, and to dirty up Secretary Clinton because they're terrified she'll walk into the White House," said Democratic consultant Doug Thornell. "This is an attempt to keep their base together and motivated" after Obama's victories in 2008 and 2012. <h4>Thornell predicted Benghazi will prove no more useful as a political "scandal" than did the highly criticized "Fast and Furious" gun-tracking program and the federally subsidized but ultimately doomed Solyndra energy company. </h4>White House press secretary Jay Carney has spent hours trying to dismiss GOP accusations, including those that Obama sought to hide the fact that Islamic terrorists were behind the Benghazi attack.  "The whole effort here by Republicans to find some hidden mystery comes to nothing because the president called it an act of terror," Carney told reporters Friday.  Benghazi may remain a white-hot topic in many conservative regions and talk shows for some time. <br /><br />At Wednesday's hearing before the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., told relatives of the four Americans killed in Benghazi that her constituents "think about you all the time." <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZOoROBlVQxIT2l0wYYzqD07otQf2kI-L652WQKrkfundmolnjIgWglNykmvMnVmC6YeY3_jJxYQhP133VkHstmwtwRL7EBpY8RMW5UeW1U_YKp2zXyIvkbAUSq1kkTvRhsxQyoG6Lr-v/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZOoROBlVQxIT2l0wYYzqD07otQf2kI-L652WQKrkfundmolnjIgWglNykmvMnVmC6YeY3_jJxYQhP133VkHstmwtwRL7EBpY8RMW5UeW1U_YKp2zXyIvkbAUSq1kkTvRhsxQyoG6Lr-v/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" width="320" /></a></div>

GOP ready to push Benghazi case into 2014, beyond

WASHINGTON — Steady drips of information about a horrific night in Libya are fueling Republican arguments and ads designed to fire up the co...

Senate Immigration Bill Could Set Off Fierce Backlash Again

<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" width="320" /></a>WASHINGTON -- As a Senate committee prepares to begin voting this week on far-reaching immigration legislation, advocates are watching warily to see whether relatively tame opposition balloons into the kind of fierce resistance that killed Congress' last attempt to overhaul the system.<br /><br />Last time around, in 2007, angry calls overwhelmed the Senate switchboard and lawmakers endured raging town hall meetings and threats from incensed constituents. The legislation ultimately collapsed on the Senate floor.<br /><br />"I've been through this battle, and it's ugly," said former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., who supported the bill. "My phones were jammed for three weeks and I got three death threats, one of which I turned over to the FBI. So it's rough business."<br /><br />Supporters of the immigration bill brought forward last month by a group of four Republican and four Democratic senators have been cautiously optimistic about their prospects because of factors including public support for giving citizenship to immigrants, a large and diverse coalition in support of the bill, and a growing sentiment among Republican leaders that immigration must be dealt with if they are to regain the backing of Hispanic voters.<br /><br />Backers have been working hard to build alliances and strategies aimed at avoiding the mistakes of 2007, when critics largely defined the bill and some supporters ended up turning against it.<br /><br />Opponents acknowledge that supporters started out better organized and mobilized than last time around, and they also anticipate that outside groups pushing the legislation – including efforts headed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg – will outspend them. Supporters include large and influential groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, AFL-CIO and the Catholic Church, while opponents include lesser-known think tanks or advocacy organizations such as NumbersUSA, the Federation for American Immigration Reform and the Center for Immigration Studies. Both sides have already begun running ads.<br /><br />But critics also have important grass-roots influence, including from talk radio hosts who were instrumental in defeating the bill in 2007, and opponents argue that as the public absorbs the content of the legislation, the tide will turn against it. They say that there are already signs that it's happening. Although conservative commentators on Fox News Channel and elsewhere have been more muted so far than in 2007, some talk radio hosts including Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh have begun to voice deep unease about the bill despite the efforts of its conservative standard bearer, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to sell the legislation to them and other conservative opinion leaders.<br /><br />"The supporters promoted the bill aggressively before anybody saw the language, and certain Republicans and conservative voices sort of held their fire, but that's beginning to change," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who was a leading voice in the Senate against the bill in 2007 and is reprising that role this time around, making floor speeches, issuing press releases and holding briefing calls with reporters to argue that the bill would unlock a much larger volume of immigration into the U.S. than advertised, to the detriment of U.S. workers and jobs.<br /><br />"It's going to be like that mackerel in the sunshine – the longer it's out there the worse it smells," Sessions said.<br /><br />The bill would aim to boost border security, fix legal immigration and worker programs, require all employers to check their workers' legal status and offer eventual citizenship to the estimated 11 million immigrants already living in the country illegally.<br /><br />Joyce Kaufman, a host on a Florida radio station, WFTL, said that opposition to the bill was soft at first but grows daily.<br /><br />"Yes, we believe this is amnesty," Kaufman said. "Citizen activists are outraged."<br /><br />Lott said that supporters of the legislation still haven't come up with an argument as concise and effective as that one word – "amnesty" – from opponents. He said he's spoken with Rubio, among others, to make clear that supporters of the bill need to hone their arguments.<br /><br />"Last time our explanation was three paragraphs. Theirs was a word," Lott said. When that happens, he said, "You're dead."<br /><br />The Democratic-led Senate, where the Judiciary Committee takes up the bill on Thursday, is already going to be a tough challenge. But if the bill does pass the Senate, opponents are betting it gets stopped in the Republican-led House. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers has been promising for months to release their own bill mirroring elements of the Senate legislation but taking a tougher tack. So far they haven't delivered.<br /><br />Meanwhile, to the dismay of immigration advocates, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has announced plans to move forward with individual, single-issue immigration bills, rejecting the comprehensive approach in the Senate that's backed by President Barack Obama, who's made immigration legislation a top second-term priority. The legislation was also a priority in 2007 for then-President George W. Bush, but he was unsuccessful in persuading Republican lawmakers to get behind the bill, and Democrats who at the time controlled Congress were divided, too.<br /><br />In the 2007 debate, a turning point came when the conservative Heritage Foundation released a report saying that the legislation would cost taxpayers $2.6 trillion, including benefits to immigrants and other expenditures. Although the analysis was disputed it carried weight with GOP lawmakers. Now under the leadership of former Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., another lead opponent of the legislation in 2007, Heritage was preparing to release an updated version of that report on Monday. DeMint already has warned costs of the bill could be even greater this time.<br /><br />In a sign of how supporters of the bill are working hard not to repeat mistakes from the past, conservative groups that support the legislation have already sought to pre-empt the Heritage report, with the Cato Institute deriding it ahead of time as "fatally flawed," and Cato and others arguing that immigration reform would boost the economy by growing the labor market. Nonetheless officials with Heritage argue their report could have the same impact this time around as in 2007.<br /><br />"There's been a lot of posturing, a lot of talk. We haven't really gotten to the heart of the debate yet," said Dan Holler, communications director for Heritage Action for America, the Heritage Foundation's activist arm. "We have the right policy, the numbers are going to be there, and the debate is going to shift. And no amount of ads will be able to shift it back."<br /><br />

Senate Immigration Bill Could Set Off Fierce Backlash Again

WASHINGTON -- As a Senate committee prepares to begin voting this week on far-reaching immigration legislation, advocates are watching waril...

House Obamacare Repeal Vote Planned For 'The Near Future'

<br />House Republicans are planning what is likely to be the 37th symbolic vote to repeal Obamacare, according to a memo sent out to House Republicans Friday by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKD9p4VyijkWy21miHd9GaaywTJKmJI04TZVC2QXDyiQQsdgfrbQz1vxjwxB47N9IPuGBOk5QnpL59P7Q-fPAqaPhiS0EnFd6AYBAxWOWXb9iPQvAh4PhT1KHvk_A1cdsjfng8Go7o9xe/s1600/E+C.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjKD9p4VyijkWy21miHd9GaaywTJKmJI04TZVC2QXDyiQQsdgfrbQz1vxjwxB47N9IPuGBOk5QnpL59P7Q-fPAqaPhiS0EnFd6AYBAxWOWXb9iPQvAh4PhT1KHvk_A1cdsjfng8Go7o9xe/s1600/E+C.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />"While we have not locked in the timing, I expect that the House will vote on full repeal of ObamaCare in the near future," Cantor said in the memo.<br /><br />The House voted 36 times to repeal Obamacare in 2011 and 2012, according to TPM. None of the measures passed the Democratic-controlled Senate, let alone reached the president for his signature.<br /><br />In April at the Heritage Foundation, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) explained the rationale for holding a repeal vote again. "If you're a freshman, the guys who've been up here the last year -- we can go home and say, 'Listen, we voted 36 different times to repeal or replace Obamacare.' -- tell me what the new guys are supposed to say," he said. "We haven't had a repeal or replace vote this year."<br /><br />The vote to repeal would come after more conservative House members defeated Cantor's effort in late April to tweak part of the health care law. The Helping Sick Americans Now Act aimed to transfer money from a public health awareness account, which has been characterized by Republicans as a "slush fund," to an underfunded high-risk pool program. Other House Republicans did not want to be seen as helping fund Obamacare amid their quest for full repeal.<br /><br />"House Republicans look forward to offering Democratic freshman the opportunity to put their full support behind ObamaCare as its implementation causes rates to increase, coverage to be dropped and the quality of care to suffer," said Cantor spokesman Rory Cooper in an email. "We intend to bring a full repeal vote to the floor soon, and will continue to advocate for patient-centered health care reform that lowers costs and improves care."<br /><div><br /></div>

House Obamacare Repeal Vote Planned For 'The Near Future'

House Republicans are planning what is likely to be the 37th symbolic vote to repeal Obamacare, according to a memo sent out to House Republ...

Republican politicians pay tribute to NRA clout at annual meeting

<br />In an indicator of the continued influence of the nation’s largest gun-owners’ group, Republican politicians addressed the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Houston Friday, celebrating the defeat of gun legislation in the Senate, assailing the media and offering a strong defense of the powerful lobbying organization.<br /><img alt="gifford gun Sarah Palin Inspired Jared Loughner To Shoot Gabrielle Giffords? Photos And Video " height="436" src="http://www.anorak.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/jared-lee-loughner/gifford-gun.jpg" title="JARED Lee Loughner - Gabrielle Giffords - Gabrielle Giffords" width="600" /><br />Alluding to the defeat of a Senate measure two weeks ago to expand background checks on gun buyers, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas told the crowd that gun control measures a month ago had “looked like an unstoppable freight train” but that they and fellow gun owners across the nation had mobilized to stop it in a victory that was “truly amazing.” But he said President Barack Obama and his allies have said “that they intend to come back at us” with another attempt to pass gun legislation in the Senate<br />“We must do everything we can to stop violent crime,” the Texas Republican said, as he accused the Obama administration of not doing enough to prosecute felons and fugitives who try to buy guns as well as criminals who use a gun in the commission of a crime.<br /><br />Cruz also challenged Vice President Joe Biden, who like Cruz is a potential 2016 presidential contender, to an hour-long debate on how to<br />stop crime. “If Vice President Biden really believes the facts are on his side … I would think he would welcome the opportunity to talk about the sources, the causes of violent crime and how we do everything humanly possible to stop it.”<br /><br />Wayne LaPierre, the executive vice president of the NRA, used part of his speech Friday to assail “media elitists” who “think they know better than we do” and “think they’re smarter than we are.” He accused news organizations of “a vicious effort to attack the Second Amendment and demonize lawful American gun owners.”<br /><br />Another NRA leader, Chris Cox, the head of the group’s Institute for Legislative Action, said in Friday’s session that since the shootings at a school in Newtown, Conn., last year, “We’ve seen the politicians, the national media, and their billionaire supporters attack us, ridicule us, and, worst of all, blame us for the acts of violent criminals and madmen.”<br /><br />He accused President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg of trying to exploit the Newtown killings as they “scheme about how to use that suffering to push their political agenda.”<br /><br />Also scheduled to speak Friday were former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.<br /><br />Jindal and Santorum are also possible contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.<br /><br />Two weeks ago, the NRA scored a major victory when the Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by two senators who had gotten NRA backing in their past campaigns, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.<br />The Manchin-Toomey amendment would have required background checks on would-be firearms purchasers at gun shows at which 75 or more firearms were available for sale.<br /><br />Under current law, although background checks are required to buy a weapon from a federally licensed dealer, no check is needed for those who buy from a private gun owner or at gun shows or similar events.<br /><a href="http://visualcultureblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sarah-palin-gun.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-264" height="231" src="http://visualcultureblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/sarah-palin-gun-300x231.jpg" title="Veepstakes Palin" width="300" /></a>While most Republican senators opposed the Manchin-Toomey measure, three GOP senators in addition to Toomey himself voted for it. And while most Democratic senators voted for it, five Democrats voted no, including two who are up for re-election next year, Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Sen. Mark Begich of Alaska.<br /><br />After the April 17 vote on the Manchin-Toomey measure, Cox said, “some of our more aggressive adversaries may have started to believe their own propaganda. I’m sure some had convinced themselves that the intensity of their anger toward gun owners was all that was necessary to assure victory.”<br /><br />Looking ahead to the 2014 elections Cox said, “Pro-Second Amendment senators stood with us and we will stand with them, as we have with other elected representatives who have supported the Second Amendment before them.”<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="266" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yf14VhDYvt0?feature=player_embedded" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><br />

Republican politicians pay tribute to NRA clout at annual meeting

In an indicator of the continued influence of the nation’s largest gun-owners’ group, Republican politicians addressed the National Rifle As...

After Boston, we should put Republican's under surveillance,or ...GOP or Gulp?

After Boston, we should put Muslims under surveillance, says Rep. King.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqKQECIyBCSLB6wf6eTQJ-m-fxi6ZYWyar6b-Jyvz1jG73if_s3D3LDY09MHCSTkU-4o0eI57vM47fBE0PJIQgF6drP0zgqzDN2pYgPI3KuyVXKlIXD8ycy0H3U9vTS2o6_9wf9AGRz-6/s1600/U.S.+Rep.+Peter+T.+King.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqKQECIyBCSLB6wf6eTQJ-m-fxi6ZYWyar6b-Jyvz1jG73if_s3D3LDY09MHCSTkU-4o0eI57vM47fBE0PJIQgF6drP0zgqzDN2pYgPI3KuyVXKlIXD8ycy0H3U9vTS2o6_9wf9AGRz-6/s1600/U.S.+Rep.+Peter+T.+King.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /><div><div>President Obama cautioned the nation not to rush to judgment about the Boston Marathon bombers. But that’s not stopping Republican Rep. Peter King.</div><div>King, who chairs the House subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, is urging authorities to beef up their surveillance of Muslims in the U.S.  following Friday night’s arrest of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.</div><div>Police must “realize that the threat is coming from the Muslim community and increase </div></div><div><div>surveillance there,” the New York lawmaker told National Review.</div><div>King—who spearheaded controversial hearings on the radicalization of Muslim-Americans in 2011—also told CNN that “we can’t be politically correct. I think we have to see, has radicalization extended into the Chechen community?”</div><div>Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, was taken into custody on Friday night in Watertown, Mass., after a day-long manhunt following an early-morning shootout with police in which his older brother, Tamerlan, 26, was killed. The two are suspected of planting bombs that killed three people and injured more than 170 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.</div><div>The ethnic Chechen brothers came to the U.S. in 2002 after fleeing the war-torn region. The two were born in the former Soviet territory now known as Kyrgyzstan. Those who knew the family have said Tamerlan Tsarnaev had become a devout Muslim in the past few years.</div><div>Dzhokhar became a naturalized citizen in 2012, while Tamerlan had a green card and was reportedly hoping to become a citizen.</div><div>King is not the only Republican employing arguably Islamaphobic rhetoric this week. South Carolina’s Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Saturday that the Tsarnaev brothers were on a “jihad mission.”</div><div>“Radical jihadists are trying to attack us here at home,” the South Carolina Republican told Fox News. “Every day we face threats from radical Islamists and they are coming through our back yard and trying to radicalize American citizens.”</div><div>Meanwhile, Graham, King, and GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire have  issued a joint statement urging President Obama to treat Dzhokhar as an “enemy combatant” so he can be held and questioned instead of being tried in a criminal court.</div><div>The GOP senators argued that a criminal trial would slow down the effort to extract information from Dzhokhar.</div><div>“The accused perpetrators of these acts were not common criminals attempting to profit from a criminal enterprise, but terrorists trying to injure, maim, and kill innocent Americans. The suspect, based upon his actions, clearly is a good candidate for enemy combatant status. We do not want this suspect to remain silent,” they said.  “We should be focused on gathering intelligence from this suspect right now that can help our nation understand how this attack occurred and what may follow in the future. That should be our focus, not a future domestic criminal trial that may take years to complete.”</div><div>After Dzhokhar’s capture on Friday, President Obama cautioned about making rash decisions. “It is important we do this right. That is why we have investigations. We relentlessly gather facts. That  is why we have courts.”</div><div>Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, said in a statement that the Obama administration should resist the calls to treat Dzhokhar as an enemy combatant.</div><div>“This is not a foreign national caught on an enemy battlefield, but an American citizen arrested on American soil. The Justice Department has demonstrated a far greater ability to successfully prosecute suspected terrorists in federal courts than the military commissions have thus far been able to show. Nothing must be done to compromise the public safety, the ability of prosecutors to seek justice for the victims or our constitutional principles,” he said.</div></div></div>

After Boston, we should put Republican's under surveillance,or ...GOP or Gulp?

After Boston, we should put Muslims under surveillance, says Rep. King. President Obama cautioned the nation not to rush to judgment about t...

Boston bombings shadow immigration bill

<h4 class="abs">A number of Republicans seized on the events in Boston to raise questions about the existing immigration system and the changes proposed in the new bill.</h4><section><div class="first" data-class="float1"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8pcjf9950imtKfusqxG98JPo1fcEo9ZENqOVOVAHQ6k3_lZRfCq-yp3M03v8NsR5jzBTg2ryn6rMXituOLUg7j-ShyIRqKTk87l5ZEGHvoNuKL_BtTSPzLVuFHyw4nC4CRjSjkf7g2Rz/s1600/mexicousa.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div>WASHINGTON — The Boston Marathon bombings cast a shadow Friday over the start of debate on legislation to remake the U.S. immigration system, as some Republicans argued that the role of two immigrant suspects raised questions about gaps in the system.<br /><div data-class="ap-story-p">There was no suggestion that the two suspects, brothers who had lived in Dagestan, which neighbors Chechnya in southern Russia, had entered the U.S. illegally. And authors of a sweeping new immigration bill, which got its first hearing Friday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued that their legislation would improve U.S. national security because the estimated 11 million people now living here illegally would have to come forward and undergo background checks.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p"><strong></strong> </div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Still, a number of Republicans seized on the events in Boston to raise questions about the existing immigration system and the changes proposed in the new bill. And there were concerns among supporters of the legislation that, even if it turns out the bombing suspects did not violate U.S. immigration laws, the events could inflame anti-immigrant sentiment just as Congress confronts the already formidable task of getting a far-reaching immigration bill through the House and Senate and to the president's desk.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">"Given the events of this week, it's important for us to understand the gaps and loopholes in our immigration system," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the Judiciary Committee's senior Republican, said in his opening statement at Friday's hearing. "How can we beef up security checks on people who wish to enter the United States? How do we ensure that people who wish to do us harm are not eligible for benefits under the immigration laws, including this new bill?"</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Others went further.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">"It's too bad suspect No. 1 won't be able to be legalized by Marco Rubio, now," conservative commentator Ann Coulter wrote on her Twitter account, after one of the suspects was killed in a firefight. Rubio, a Florida Republican, is another of the principal Senate authors of the legislation.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Earlier in the week, Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, told the National Review that Congress should be cautious on immigration in the wake of the bombings, focus on national security and put on hold any question of a path to legalization.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Supporters of the legislation disputed such arguments.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">"I'd like to ask that all of us not jump to conclusions regarding the events in Boston or try to conflate those events with this legislation," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at Friday's hearing a few minutes after Grassley spoke.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Schumer added, "In general, we're a safer country when law enforcement knows who is here" and has photos and background checks <span data-class="st">—</span> steps that would be taken in regard to people living here illegally under the legislation Schumer sponsored with seven other senators.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Schumer also said the U.S. refugee and asylum programs have been "significantly strengthened" in the past five years so that authorities are more careful about screening people coming into the country. But he said if more changes are needed, he's committed to making them. Some reports indicated the suspects' family sought asylum in the U.S. after leaving their conflict-torn home region.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Rubio's spokesman, Alex Conant, said in a statement there were "legitimate policy questions" to be asked about whether the immigration system played any role in what happened in Boston.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">"Regardless of the circumstances in Boston, immigration reform that strengthens our borders and gives us a better accounting of who is in our country and why will improve our national security," Conant added. "Americans will reject any attempt to tie the losers responsible for the attacks in Boston with the millions of law-abiding immigrants currently living in the U.S. and those hoping to immigrate here in the future."</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a pro-immigration-reform group, argued that those making connections between the Boston attacks and the immigration legislation are motivated by politics.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">"Those exploiting this tragedy in hopes of derailing immigration reform were opponents of reform long before this week," Sharry said.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p">The immigration legislation would strengthen the border with Mexico, allow tens of thousands of new high- and low-skilled workers into the country, mandate that all employers verify their workers' legal status and provide an eventual path to citizenship for those living here illegally.</div><div data-class="ap-story-p"><img alt=" Boston bombings shadow immigration bill: Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, at podium, speaks Thursday about immigration reform legislation outlined by the Senate's bipartisan 'Gang of Eight.' " class="image" data-src="{"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/c2/6ad29787185032f3d9836c192ae37_h366_w650_m6_lfalse.jpg"}" src="http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/c2/6ad29787185032f3d9836c192ae37_h366_w650_m6_lfalse.jpg" title=" Boston bombings shadow immigration bill: Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, at podium, speaks Thursday about immigration reform legislation outlined by the Senate's bipartisan 'Gang of Eight.' (AP photo)" width="650" /></div></section>

Boston bombings shadow immigration bill

A number of Republicans seized on the events in Boston to raise questions about the existing immigration system and the changes proposed in ...

Rubio says,"Adios Amigos",immigration law not 'amnesty'

<h4>"There will be consequences for having violated the laws," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said of illegal immigrants. </h4><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyM53oVVFHtnaI8m8pF_CNHvzs1kXLyipY_fIP8O8XcuiJnD9BjDojl8_n-pgM6x02-pgfb35753LDG_f6W6Wk3v637e0fCDHkUcPhUpJPrK-r9ojQDL65GuMzvaKlSTjCDYWxCv3PspUw/s1600/rubio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyM53oVVFHtnaI8m8pF_CNHvzs1kXLyipY_fIP8O8XcuiJnD9BjDojl8_n-pgM6x02-pgfb35753LDG_f6W6Wk3v637e0fCDHkUcPhUpJPrK-r9ojQDL65GuMzvaKlSTjCDYWxCv3PspUw/s1600/rubio.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />WASHINGTON — Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., says a proposed immigration bill expected to be introduced this week won't offer amnesty to those who entered the United States illegally.<br /><br />Speaking on the Sunday news shows, Rubio said, "There will be consequences for having violated the laws."<br /><br />Rubio's proposal would require people to pass a "rigorous background check" and pay fines and application fees to receive a permit that would allow them to "work, travel and pay taxes." <br /><br />After 10 years they would be able to apply for legal immigration status and an eventual path to citizenship.<br /><br />Under the proposal, the applicants would not be eligible for any federal benefits such as health care.<br /><h4>Rubio said, "There will be consequences for having violated the laws."<br />Rubio says immigration law not 'amnesty'</h4><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZOoROBlVQxIT2l0wYYzqD07otQf2kI-L652WQKrkfundmolnjIgWglNykmvMnVmC6YeY3_jJxYQhP133VkHstmwtwRL7EBpY8RMW5UeW1U_YKp2zXyIvkbAUSq1kkTvRhsxQyoG6Lr-v/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDZOoROBlVQxIT2l0wYYzqD07otQf2kI-L652WQKrkfundmolnjIgWglNykmvMnVmC6YeY3_jJxYQhP133VkHstmwtwRL7EBpY8RMW5UeW1U_YKp2zXyIvkbAUSq1kkTvRhsxQyoG6Lr-v/s1600/%2540publimetro.png" width="320" /></a></div>

Rubio says,"Adios Amigos",immigration law not 'amnesty'

"There will be consequences for having violated the laws," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said of illegal immigrants. WASHINGTON — Sen....

Immigration bill could exclude many

A bipartisan immigration bill expected to be unveiled next week could end up preventing many immigrants in the U.S. illegally from becoming citizens.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCoiesM87go6CgM961QmQrOLtxHGeOJ5dKMX_eJnpopxQf2J4Z6Z1M1wLuXQPPkUj5oLBNFj76SYigUfEjJ7RN3Prn4VN4spduNlPh5Q2fQmOWXrzd9EfZ2uM5xgsiVvnNyPreKlSZoDZ/s1600/inm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPCoiesM87go6CgM961QmQrOLtxHGeOJ5dKMX_eJnpopxQf2J4Z6Z1M1wLuXQPPkUj5oLBNFj76SYigUfEjJ7RN3Prn4VN4spduNlPh5Q2fQmOWXrzd9EfZ2uM5xgsiVvnNyPreKlSZoDZ/s1600/inm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />WASHINGTON — Bipartisan immigration legislation emerging in the Senate could prevent hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the U.S. illegally from ever becoming citizens, according to a Senate aide with knowledge of the proposals.<br /><br />The bill expected to be unveiled next week would bar anyone who arrived in the U.S. after Dec. 31, 2011, from applying for legal status and ultimately citizenship, according to the aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposals had not been announced.<br /><br /><h4>It also would require applicants to document that they were in the country before Dec. 31, 2011, have a clean criminal record, and show enough employment or financial stability that they're likely to stay off welfare.</h4><h3><br />Those requirements could end up excluding hundreds of thousands of the 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally from the path to citizenship envisioned by the bill, the aide said.</h3><h4>Although illegal immigration to the U.S. has been dropping, many tens of thousands still arrive each year, so the cutoff date alone could exclude a large number of people. </h4><h4>That may come as a disappointment to immigrant rights groups that had been hoping that anyone here as of the date of enactment of the bill could be able to become eligible for citizenship.</h4>But Republicans in the immigration negotiating group had sought strict criteria on legal enforcement and border security as the price for their support for a path to citizenship, which is still opposed by some as amnesty.<br /><br />The new details emerged as negotiators reached agreement on all the major elements of the sweeping legislation.<br /><br />After months of arduous closed-door negotiations, the "Gang of Eight" senators, equally divided between the two parties, had no issues left to resolve in person, and no more negotiating sessions were planned. <br /><br />Remaining details were left to aides, who were at work completing drafts of the bill.<br />"All issues that rise to the member level have been dealt with," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "All that is left is the drafting."<br /><br />Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said the bill probably would be introduced Tuesday.<br /><br />The landmark legislation would overhaul legal immigration programs, require all employers to verify the legal status of their workers, greatly boost border security and put the estimated 11 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally on a path to citizenship. <br /><br />A top second-term priority for President Barack Obama, it would enact the biggest changes to U.S. immigration law in more than a quarter century.<br /><br />Deals jelled over the past day on a new farm-worker program and visas for high-tech workers, eliminating the final substantive disputes on the legislation.<br /><br />Next will come the uncertain public phase as voters and other lawmakers get a look at the measure. <br /><br />Already, some on the right have made it clear their opposition will be fierce.<br /><br />Once the legislation is released, it will be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has scheduled a hearing for next Wednesday and will likely begin to amend and vote on the bill the week of May 6. <br /><br />From there, the bill would move to the Senate floor.<br /><br />Both in committee and on the floor, the bill could change in unpredictable ways as senators try to amend it from the left and the right. <br /><br />The Gang of Eight — Schumer, Durbin, and Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. — have discussed banding together to defeat amendments that could significantly alter the legislation.<br /><br />Even more uncertain, though, is the conservative-led House, where a bipartisan group is also crafting an immigration bill, though timing of its release is uncertain. Many conservatives in the House remain opposed to citizenship for immigrants who have been living in the U.S. illegally.<br /><br />In addition to the new details on criteria for future citizens, other significant elements of the Senate legislation are also known, through comments from senators or aides, leaks or statements by outside groups.<br /><br />The bill is expected to provide a 13-year path to citizenship for people living here illegally who qualify, but only after a new southern border security plan is in place, employers have adopted mandatory electronic verification of their workers' legal status and a new electronic entry-exit system is operating at airports and seaports for tracking holders of temporary visas.<br /><br />It would call for surveillance of 100 percent of the U.S. border with Mexico and apprehension of 90 percent of people trying to cross in certain high-risk areas.<br />Six months from enactment, people living in the U.S. illegally could apply for a provisional legal status, as long as the Department of Homeland Security has developed new plans for border security.<br /><br />A new visa program for low-skilled workers would ultimately allow up to 200,000 workers per year into the country for jobs as janitors, construction workers, nursing home attendants and other occupations.<br /><br />Farm workers already here illegally would get a faster path to citizenship than other immigrants, and another new visa program would allow tens of thousands of new workers into the country to labor in the nation's farms, fields and dairies.<br /><br />A visa program for high-tech workers now capped at 65,000 per year would nearly double, and foreigners getting advanced degrees in math, technology, science and engineering from U.S. institutions would more easily qualify for permanent residence.<br /><br />A largely voluntary system called E-Verify that employers can use to check their workers' legal status would be expanded and made mandatory for all employers.<br /><br />Other details, however, are not yet known. In particular, activists are eager to learn the particulars on how much people would have to pay in fees and fines to ultimately get citizenship.

Immigration bill could exclude many

A bipartisan immigration bill expected to be unveiled next week could end up preventing many immigrants in the U.S. illegally from becoming ...