Marco Rubio Has Alienated Just About Everyone In The Immigration Debate

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

By Brett Logiurato. Somewhere along the line in what has become a heated debate over how to reform the nation’s immigration laws, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) lost his base.

That much became clear during a marathon “press conference” on Wednesday that quickly turned into a rally in firm opposition to the immigration bill being debated in the Senate. According to reports from the scene, Rubio was public enemy No. 1 to the crowd, which booed his name when he was mentioned as part of the Senate’s “Gang of Eight.”

An immigration debate that started with so much promise for Rubio — including a mildly successful charm offensive with conservative talk radio — has gotten to the point where he has successfully irritated all political parties involved.

Democrats have grown upset with his recent insistence on including stricter border security measures than the bill initially called for. On Thursday, he voted against a motion to table, or kill, a controversial amendment put forth by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), which Democrats had called a non-starter and “poison pill.”

Independents, polling shows, don’t approve of his handling of the issue. And some prominent conservatives are starting to turn on him, too. Read more from this story HERE.

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Pro-Rubio Radio Star Turns on ‘Amnesty Man’

By Michael Carl. A South Florida talk-radio host who “enthusiastically” supported Marco Rubio in his successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and touted his candidacy on her show, has turned against him, charging he has betrayed the people of his state as a member of the “Gang of Eight” by crafting an immigration bill that provides a “path to citizenship” for illegal aliens.

Joyce Kaufman, who hosts a daily show on WFTL 850 AM, denounced Rubio on her show Wednesday and announced she’s organizing protests against the politician she now calls a “pathological liar, a “fraud” and “The Amnesty Man.”

Kaufman has organized rallies against Rubio at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Port Saint Lucie, Fla., and at his Miami Senate offices.

Rubio is feeling the heat after he told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity he knows his moves aren’t winning him any friends among conservatives.

“Look, it’s obvious I didn’t do this for political gain. This is not something that’s going to gain me any parades. People are frustrated, and I do understand it. What I hope they understand is that I studied this issue carefully for almost two years, and I concluded that what we have in place right now is a disaster,” Rubio told Hannity. Read more from this story HERE.

Pro-Abortion Biden Boasts His Theology Credentials, Claims Amnesty Bill is “Christian Thing to Do”

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast Thursday, slammed Republican lawmakers opposed to the push for comprehensive immigration reform, calling the White House’s blueprint the “Christian thing to do.”

As lawmakers move closer to a compromise on border security, the free-talking Biden had some fiery words for Republicans . . .

“Many of these same [GOP] representatives talk about their Christianity and their fidelity to the Bible, but they forget Matthew Chapter 25, Verse 34, where scripture teaches us: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty — you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me,’” Biden said pointing to a Republican amendment that would have blocked President Obama’s decision to halt the deportation of so-called DREAMers.

Biden later added, “It’s the right thing to do; it’s the Christian thing to do.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Commits Embarrassing Gaffes at G8 Summit

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Photo Credit: NDTV

Photo Credit: NDTV

US President Barack Obama repeatedly called British finance minister George Osborne “Jeffrey” at the G8 summit, media reported on Thursday.

The US president said three times that he agreed fully with “Jeffrey” during his presentation on G8 host Britain’s plans to crack down on tax avoidance, leaving Osborne red-faced.

Realising his blunder afterwards, Obama joked that he had mistaken Britain’s chancellor for the US soul singer Jeffrey Osborne, The Sun and the Financial Times reported.

“I’m sorry, man. I must have confused you with my favourite R and B singer,” Obama was quoted as saying.

The chancellor, 42, bears little resemblance to Jeffrey Osborne, a 65-year-old African-American hit singer-songwriter known for his 1982 classic “On the Wings of Love”.

Read more from this story HERE.

Abuse of Power and Deceit: Obama Imposed Rules as Early as 2009 to Defeat Government Transparency

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Even as the freshly minted Obama administration was pledging a “new era of open government” in 2009, officials were quietly adding new rules that had the potential to slow down public requests for documents.

Those rules, detailed in memos reviewed by FoxNews.com, could even trip up present-day efforts to dig into the IRS’ practice of targeting conservative groups. The rules detailed in the memos largely emanated from the Treasury Department and, specifically, the IRS.

“It would seem to repudiate this notion that this is going to be the most transparent government in history,” said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, the group that first obtained the memos.

The memos follow reports about the administration’s use of private email accounts, and coincide with ongoing debate about government transparency — particularly with recent disclosures about widespread surveillance programs.

Epstein said the document request procedures are “troubling” since the media are “really concerned about the limits of government power.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Obama Compares Protestant, Catholic Schools to Racial Segregation

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Likening religious schools to segregation–a racist system that forced blacks to attend different schools and use different facilities than whites in the American South–President Barack Obama told a town hall meeting for youth in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday that there should not be Catholic and Protestant schools because such schools cause division.

“Because issues like segregated schools and housing, lack of jobs and opportunity–symbols of history that are a source of pride for some and pain for others–these are not tangential to peace; they’re essential to it,” said Obama. “If towns remain divided–if Catholics have their schools and buildings, and Protestants have theirs–if we can’t see ourselves in one another, if fear or resentment are allowed to harden, that encourages division. It discourages cooperation.

“Ultimately, peace is just not about politics,” he said. “It’s about attitudes; about a sense of empathy; about breaking down the divisions that we create for ourselves in our own minds and our own hearts that don’t exist in any objective reality, but that we carry with us generation after generation.

Read more from this story HERE.

Director Admits FBI Using Drones For Surveillance in the US

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

FBI Director Robert Mueller acknowledged Wednesday that the bureau has a limited number of drones that it uses for surveillance on U.S. soil.

The practice, however limited, could raise further concern about government snooping amid the ongoing controversy over the administration’s phone- and Internet-tracking programs.

Mueller addressed the matter during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill, under questioning from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Asked if the FBI has drones, Mueller said, “Yes, and for surveillance.”

He later said they are deployed on U.S. soil, but clarified they are used in a “very, very minimal way and very seldom.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Sen. Rand Paul on NSA Surveillance: ‘I’m Not Sure When I’m Being Lied To’ Now

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Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite

Photo Credit: J. Scott Applewhite

By David Sherfinsk. Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, said Wednesday that Tuesday testimony from intelligence officials on the government’s data-surveillance programs did little to close what he called a “credibility gap.”

He pointed to testimony that Director of National IntelligenceJames Clapper gave during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in March when asked if the National Security Agency gathers “any type of data at all” on Americans.”

“No, sir,” Mr. Clapper said. “Not wittingly.”

“I guess the problem is ever since Clapper lied in March to us and said they weren’t collecting any data on Americans, there’s a credibility gap now, and it’s hard for us to really trust the intelligence community because the head of the intelligence community directly lied to the Senate and said they were collecting no data from Americans,” Mr. Paul said on “Fox and Friends.” “So I’m not sure when I’m being lied to and when they’re being honest.”

Mr. Clapper later said in an interview on NBC that the question didn’t have a simple yes or no answer, and that he answered “in what I thought was the most truthful or least untruthful manner by saying no.” Read more from this story HERE.

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California Rep. Duncan Hunter wants audit of U.S. secrecy in wake of NSA leak

By Shaun Waterman. A Republican congressman called Wednesday for an audit of all U.S. government secrecy standards, saying “classification inflation” is forcing federal agencies to issue more and more clearances, increasing the chances for leaks about vital programs.

“Overclassification,” or labeling things secret that don’t really need it, “stands to dangerously expand access to material that should ordinarily be limited,” wrote Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, a Marine combat veteran who sits on the House Armed Services Committee.

Mr. Hunter said he was calling for the audit because of the recent leak about the National Security Agency’s top secret data-gathering on telephone and Internet communications.

The leak calls for “a thorough assessment of the current classification system,” Mr. Hunter said in a letter asking the Government Accountability Office, Congress‘ investigative branch, to perform the audit.

Five million people in the United States have security clearances, the majority of them contractors. More than 1.5 million have top secret clearances, like the one possessed by self-proclaimed NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Read more from this story HERE.

Crisis of Trust: Less Than One in Four Americans Trust Newspapers

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Americans’ confidence in newspapers fell slightly to 23% this year, from 25% in 2012 and 28% in 2011.

gallup poll

The percentage of Americans saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers has been generally trending downward since 1979, when it reached a high of 51%.

Newspapers rank near the bottom on a list of 16 societal institutions Gallup measured in a June 1-4 survey. Television news is tied with newspapers on the list, with 23% of Americans also expressing confidence in it. That is up slightly from the all-time low of 21% found last year. The only institutions television news and newspapers beat out this year are big business, organized labor, Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), and Congress.

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Staffer Claims to Live on Food Stamps Without Problems, Suggests Cutting More

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller

Photo Credit: Daily Caller

With dozens of Democratic lawmakers struggling to live on a food stamp budget to protest GOP cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a Republican staffer says he is living on a SNAP budget without problems.

Texas Republican Rep. Steve Stockman’s communications director and agriculture policy advisor, Donny Ferguson, says he has been able to eat well on $27.58 for a week, less than the $31.50 House Democrats have limited themselves to for their “SNAP Challenge.”

“I wanted to personally experience the effects of the proposed cuts to food stamps. I didn’t plan ahead or buy strategically, I just saw the publicity stunt and made a snap decision to drive down the street and try it myself. I put my money where my mouth is, and the proposed food stamp cuts are still quite filling,” Ferguson said of the challenge.

Stockman’s office noted that Ferguson did not use coupons, discount programs, or a shopping list, and he shopped at locations accessible via public transportation.

“Not only did I buy a week’s worth of food on what Democrats claim is too little, I have money left over. Based on my personal experience with SNAP benefit limits we have room to cut about 12 percent more,” Ferguson said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Tea Partyers Rally at Capitol, Blame White House for IRS Mess

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Photo Credit: Andrew Harnik

Photo Credit: Andrew Harnik

Thousands of activists rallied outside the Capitol on Wednesday to protest the IRS targeting of conservative and tea party groups, with many of the event’s speakers laying the blame for the fiasco squarely at the White House.

The “Audit the IRS” rally, organized by the Tea Party Patriots organization in response to the agency’s improper scrutiny of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, drew members and leaders of tea party groups across the country, radio personality Glenn Beck and the Senate’s tea party trio: Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky, Mike Lee of Utah and Ted Cruz of Texas.

“When Richard Nixon tried to use the IRS to target his political enemies, it was wrong,” Mr. Cruz said. “And when the Obama administration does it, it’s still wrong.”

Rep. Tim Huelskamp, Kansas Republican, said the two presidents have become so intertwined in his mind that he thinks of Mr. Obama as “President O’Nixon.”

Ken Hoagland, chairman of Restore America’s Voice PAC, accused former White House counsel Bob Bauer of sending “memo after memo to the Justice Department, to the IRS and other interested parties urging them to go after law-abiding citizens who wanted to end voter fraud [and] exercise their rights to stop an out-of-control government. This abuse of Americans was directed by Washington at the very highest levels of the Obama administration and campaign.”

Read more from this story HERE.