Dems, GOP warily eye Arizona immigration ruling
Washington (AP) - On the surface, a judge's decision to block tough provisions of Arizona's Immigration law was a defeat for the state's Republican Governor and a win for the Democratic Obama Administration. But neither party is sure it will play out that way politically, either this fall or beyond. Keeping the Illegal-immigration issue burning might help some Republican Candidates, who need a fired-up Conservative Base, campaign Strategists in both parties said Thursday. And the federal ruling...

Arizona appeals judge's ruling on immigration law
Hundreds of opponents of Arizona's new Immigration law swarmed the streets of downtown Phoenix Thursday, confronting police in Riot Gear as the state's Governor filed an urgent appeal of a Judge's ruling that prevented key portions of the law from taking effect. This Story View All Items in This Story View Only Top Items in This Story Condemning what they called the "terrorizing" of Hispanics, Protesters blockaded a jail and marched to the offices of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe...

Senate Republicans decry what they call 'amnesty' memo
From CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve Washington (CNN) - Senate Republicans have an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security which they say shows the Obama Administration "conspiring" and "scheming" to allow millions of Illegal Immigrants to stay and work in the United States At issue is an 11-page memo prepared for the head of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services entitled, "Administrative Alternatives to Comprehensive Immigration Reform." It was...

Several held in tense Arizona immigration protests
Several hundred Activists have marched through central Phoenix as a toned down new Arizona Immigration law went into effect, sparking a tense standoff with Riot Police in which about two dozen people were arrested. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer appealed against a judge's injunction stripping the most contentious sections from the Legislation, as angry protestors were met by scores of Police in Riot Gear. Civil Rights groups marched through Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, to denounce the new law,...

House approves oil spill reform bill
By Tom Doggett and Richard Cowan Washington | Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:16pm EDT Washington (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday approved the toughest Reforms ever to Offshore Energy Drilling practices, as Democrats narrowly pushed through an election-year response to BP's massive Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Passing the Bill as the House leaves for its six-week recess gives lawmakers the opportunity to return home boasting they reined in Big Oil and held BP responsible for the...

What sank the Senate's climate bill
Who killed the Climate Bill? Democrats who supported Climate Legislation in the House feel betrayed , The Post reports; after they approved a Controversial cap-and-trade Bill, Democratic leaders failed even to hold a vote on similar Legislation in the Senate, and GOP challengers are on the attack. A few Environmentalists blame lawmakers who led the effort for compromising some good Policy out of the Legislation. This Story But the real answer is simpler: Too many senators have little, if any,...

GOP Ask About Backdoor Amnesty Memo
From Fox News : GOP Lawmakers Want Explanation of Draft Memo on Amnesty for Thousands A group of Republican senators have written top Immigration officials in the Obama Administration asking them to reveal whether large-scale plans are under way to provide a so-called non-legislative version of Amnesty. The lawmakers cite an 11-page draft document written by staff to the director of the Citizenship and Immigration Service that says they are reviewing several Executive Orders and other...

Despite anger over BP spill, Washington might not act
Washington — As the Gulf of Mexico focuses on cleaning up the mess left by the BP Oil Spill, the question facing the nation's capital is: Will Washington clean up its act, too? Congress is considering stricter Regulation of Oil Exploration, and the Obama Administration has pledged to overhaul the disgraced federal agency that oversees Oil Drilling. Already, however, some of the toughest proposals are facing stiff opposition from Republicans and some Gulf Coast Democrats whose...

GOP seizes on immigration memo
Republicans are seizing on an internal memo they say is further evidence the Obama Administration wants to bypass a gridlocked Congress and use its executive powers to grant “back-door Amnesty” to thousands of Illegal Immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reiterated Friday that it is not seeking to grant permanent residency to the estimated 11 million Illegal Immigrants living in the U.S. Written by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to the...

GOP seizes on immigration memo
Republicans are seizing on an internal memo they say is further evidence the Obama Administration wants to bypass a gridlocked Congress and use its executive powers to grant “back-door Amnesty” to thousands of Illegal Immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reiterated Friday that it is not seeking to grant permanent residency to the estimated 11 million Illegal Immigrants living in the U.S. Written by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to the...

CWA: Let the Senate Breathe and Work, End Republican Filibuster Stranglehold
Long gone are the days of U.S. senators standing on the floor of the Senate as hours turned to days while they filibustered Legislation they hoped they could talk to death because they didn't have the votes to kill it outright. Senate rules no longer require filibustering senators to stay on the floor and

Rep. Anthony Weiner explodes over rejection of 9/11 bill
Washington (AP) - The House's rejection of bill that would have provided up to $7.4 Billion in aid to people sickened by World Trade Center dust has opened a sharp rift between two New York congressmen, Republican Peter King and Democrat Anthony Weiner . The verbal jousting came on the House floor Thursday night as the vote neared. The results fell largely along party lines, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats supporting the measure, but it failed to win the needed two-thirds...

Roe v. Arizona?
Writing in the Arena, James Pinkerton compared the this week's lower Court ruling on the Arizona Immigration enforcement law to, well, I'll let him tell it: Smart lawyers and judges get together to short-circuit the political process. Having thwarted Public Opinion, the legal elites high-five each other for their cleverness. Where have we seen this before? Oh yes, I remember: Roe v. Wade . That seemed overblown to me. Immigration is an issue that is fraught with a lot more moral ambiguity...

Senate Republicans decry 'amnesty' memo
Senate Republicans have an internal memo from the Department of Homeland Security that they say shows the Obama Administration "conspiring" and "scheming" to allow millions of Illegal Immigrants to stay and work in the United States.

Civil rights groups top mounting wave of criticism for Obama's education "reforms"
It's been one helluva week on the Education front, and I'm sure Jeff will have plenty to say in his Left Ed column this Sunday (new time, for those not paying quite enough attention: 1 PM, EST).  It began on Monday, when Jeff noted in a quick hit that a coalition of Civil Rights groups had issued a document critical of Obama's Education policies .  Although there would be a somewhat confusing walk-back of criticism afterwards--particularly as Arne Duncan and President Obama both...

How the status quo media failed on climate change
The Washington Post has one of the best, short analyses of the Climate Bill’s death that I’ve seen in the status quo media.

A Wrong Turn on Climate Change
This week, Harry Reid unveiled the Democrats' latest attempt at an Energy package. Unlike earlier drafts, this Legislation has some chance of passing. Trouble is, it will do very little about Climate Change (rather ironic for something we used to call a Climate Change Bill). It includes no carbon cap, no efficiency benchmarks, no Renewable Electricity standard--all of which, in some form, were part of the Waxman-Markey Legislation that passed the House more than a year ago. So what went...

Andy Griffith's new role: pitching health care law
(07-30) 10:39 PDT Washington (AP) -- Actor Andy Griffith has a new role: pitching President Barack Obama's Health Care law to seniors in a cable Television ad paid for by Medicare. The TV star — whose role as sheriff of Mayberry made him an enduring symbol of small-town American values — tells seniors that "good things are coming" under the Health Care overhaul, including free preventive checkups and lower-cost prescriptions for Medicare recipients. Polls show that seniors are more...

Washington Times' Kuhner asks "Should Arizona secede?"
In a July 29 Washington Times   column , Jeffrey Kuhner claimed the ruling "is unilaterally disarming the people of Arizona in the face of a dangerous enemy," and that "leftist Judges - elitist Activists in black robes - override democratic legitimacy." Kuhner warned that the United States is in danger of becoming a "Socialist superstate," and claimed "The choice is becoming starkly apparent: devolution or dissolution." From the Washington Times : Judicial Activism is pushing...

Agency weighs skirting Congress on immigration
Washington (AP) - The Obama Administration, unable to push an Immigration overhaul through Congress, is considering ways it could go around lawmakers to allow undocumented Immigrants to stay in the United States, according to an agency memo. The internal draft written by officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services outlines ways that the government could provide "relief" to Illegal Immigrants—including delaying Deportation for some, perhaps indefinitely, or granting green cards...

UPDATE 1- Arizona appeals ruling on state's immigration law
Thu Jul 29, 2010 4:13pm EDT (Adds Arizona Governor comment, details) Phoenix July 29 (Reuters) - Arizona lodged an appeal on Thursday seeking to lift a judge's ruling blocking key parts of the state's Controversial law cracking down on Illegal Immigrants, the Governor's office said. Lawyers for Governor Jan Brewer and Arizona asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to lift a preliminary injunction blocking parts of the law, known as SB 1070, and sought to expedite...

Arizona appeals judge's ruling on immigration law
Arizona appeals judge's ruling on Immigration law The state of Arizona has filed a promised appeal of a judge's decision blocking the most Controversial portions of a state law aimed at cracking down on Illegal Immigration. The notice of appeal was submitted Thursday afternoon to the U.S. District Court in Phoenix and will be transmitted to the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. The bare-bones notice gives no indication of the basis of the appeal, but...

James P. Pinkerton's response to 'Arizona immigration ruling: Thwarting a police state or will of the people?
James P. Pinkerton's response to 'Arizona Immigration ruling: Thwarting a Police State or will of the people? New Black Panther scam?' - The Arena | Politico.COM

The Arizona Immigration Ruling: How Judge Bolton Made Her Calls
When U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton blocked Enforcement of parts of Arizona's Controversial Immigration statute yesterday, she didn't do much to quell the controversy surrounding the Law. But she did try to clarify several key legal issues, and a closer look at her ruling shows what her logic was. A recent CNN/Opinion Research poll shows a majority of Americans support the Law , which amounted to Arizona attempting to enforce Federal Law by requiring the state's Law enforcers to...

Arizona Will Appeal Ruling on Immigration Law, Governor Says
Thu Jul 29 04:01:01 UTC 2010 "For anyone willing to see it -- the crisis is as clear as is the Federal Government's failure to address it," Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said in a statement. Photographer: Ron Sachs/Pool via Bloomberg Tucson Police Officer Luis Hernandez questions a suspect in Tucson, Arizona. Photographer: Scott Olson/Getty Images Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said she will appeal a judge's ruling that struck key provisions of a state law that would have forced Police...