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GOP Senators Send Letter to Obama Demanding Benghazi Explanation

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Photo Credit: Getty ImagesThree Republican senators have sent a letter to President Barack Obama demanding answers to questions his interview with Bill O’Reilly raised about the Benghazi attack.

In the letter, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and John McCain of Arizona tell Obama that his interview “raises more questions than it answers,” and lay out some of the issues they want clarified.

The letter notes that Obama told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly in the interview broadcast in two parts on Sunday and Monday that what “became clear was that the security was lax, that not all the precautions that needed to be taken were taken.”

The bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report concluded that the intelligence community provided “ample strategic warning” that Americans in Benghazi were at risk, the lawmakers wrote, yet Obama’s State Department ignored those warnings and failed to either increase security sufficiently or close the diplomatic facility.

The lawmakers also asked why then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on all five Sunday talk shows and said the United States had a strong security presence that was both “substantial” and “significant.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Robert Redford Lays Into Republicans on CNN: They Want to Destroy Motives of President (+video)

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Photo Credit: NewsbustersLeftist actor-director Robert Redford laid into Republicans in a Sunday interview on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” Try not to notice this journalism show began with a Justin Bieber segment and included a Redford interview. Host Brian Stelter first asked how Redford felt about Obama. “I think he’s a good human being. That’s, I think, clear,” Redford replied. “He’s a humanitarian at heart, and that’s good. He’s trying to manage an extremely difficult situation. I mean, it’s — it’s almost too much for one person.”

He wouldn’t say the same for the GOP: “When you have one half whose only motive is to destroy the motives of the president of the United States, then you have a diseased system. And I don’t think that’s his fault. I think it just makes his job tougher.” Redford lamely claimed there was bipartisanship in getting to “truth” in Watergate: [See video after jump.]

REDFORD: We spoke a while back on “All the President’s Men Revisited.” There’s a moment in that film I’d like to point out that illustrates my point, which is remember the hearings, the Watergate hearings? And we have some archival footage in there where you had the panel, Sam Ervin, Sam Dash — you had all these guys, and you have the senator from Tennessee [Howard Baker], and he was conservative. He was a Republican.

You had Republicans and Democrats on this panel. And what you got out of it was how hard all of them were working together to get to the truth of something. And I thought, I’m seeing something we don’t see today, bipartisanship, working together to get to the truth for the public good.

Earth to Redford: In Watergate, can’t it look quite obviously like the Democrats and their media collaborators had the motive to “destroy the motives of the President of the United States”? The Republicans were cooperative in exposing what happened then. Do the Democrats look cooperative today on Obama scandals like the Benghazi fiasco or Fast & Furious? Are they interested in the “truth” when the Attorney General lies before Congress about his knowledge of Fast & Furious?

Read more from this story HERE.

Poll: Sarah Palin Has Highest Favorability Rating Among 2016 GOP Primary Contenders

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

Though former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not included in a Public Policy Polling survey of potential 2016 Republican presidential contenders, she was still overwhelmingly the most liked person among Republican primary voters.

According to Public Policy Polling:

The best liked person we tested on this poll with Republican primary voters is actually Sarah Palin who has a 70/20 favorability rating. She’s followed by Huckabee at 64/18, Ryan at 58/18, Paul at 58/21, Bush at 56/18, Cruz at 45/20, and Christie at 40/38. Most of those numbers are similar to what they were a month ago but Christie’s seen a substantial drop from +18 at 47/29 a month ago to his new +2 net favorability.

Read more from this story HERE.

Arizona GOP Censures Sen. John McCain for Supporting Issues ‘Associated with Liberal Democrats’

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Photo Credit: AP/Massoud Hossaini

Photo Credit: AP/Massoud Hossaini

The Arizona Republican Party formally censured Sen. John McCain on Saturday, citing a voting record they say is insufficiently conservative.

The resolution to censure McCain was approved by a voice-vote during a meeting of state committee members in Tempe, state party spokesman Tim Sifert said. It needed signatures from at least 20 percent of state committee members to reach the floor for debate.

Sifert said no further action was expected.

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers declined to comment on the censure.

Read more from this story HERE.

House Conservatives Plot Takedown of GOP Leaders’ Amnesty Plans

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Photo Credit: AFP

Photo Credit: AFP

As House Republican leaders prepare an immigration proposal that could go much further towards amnesty than their prior public stances, conservative lawmakers are quietly plotting to push back.

Aides from over a dozen House offices secretly convened today on the Senate side of the Capitol at a meeting organized by Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, a top immigration hawk who has recently involved himself more aggressively in the affairs of the lower chamber.

“Over here in the Senate working for Senator Sessions, we learned a lot last year about the strategies employed by the powerful forces pushing bad immigration policies–and how to counter them,” reads a copy of the invitation to the meeting provided to Breitbart News by a House staffer.

Officials close to the matter say conservative critics of Speaker John Boehner’s planned immigration push are working to issue their own rival immigration principles to vie with the document Boehner is drafting.

“There is definitely a growing mood of confusion and aggravation among conservatives in the House over the immigration issue right now,” one House GOP aide said in an email to Breitbart News, adding that many on the right find the “political logic” of riling up the party’s base so close to a low-turnout midterm election baffling.

Read more from this story HERE.

The Coming GOP Amnesty Sellout Push

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Photo Credit: M. Ryder

Photo Credit: M. Ryder

Lobbyists, on the march! The coming weeks will see the formal start of the GOP House leadership’s attempt to sneak an immigration amnesty through the Republican caucus and into law. We don’t know the exact details of the proposals, but we know enough:

1) There will be some form of legalization (conditional amnesty) for the 11 million illegal immigrants already here. It won’t give them a “special” path to citizenship, but they will likely be able to pursue citizenship through regular old channels. Either way, the message sent to potential future immigrants will be, “If you come here illegally, you’ll get to stay legally.” Plus, once the bill has passed the Democratic campaign to paint the GOP as racist for not granting general citizenship to the whole group will begin.

2) There will be an attempt to describe Speaker Boehner’s “piecemeal” collection of immigration bills as an “enforcement first” arrangement that will prevent another, future illegal wave despite the incentive created by what will be two successive amnesties. Since Democrats and Latino groups would never go for an actual “enforcement first” approach–e.g., enacting universal E-verify, an exit-entry system, building a fence and waiting a few years for legal challenges to peter out**–this claim will necessarily be a fraud, the framing of which will be a key challenge for Boehner & Co.. Presumably just saying “Hey we passed the enforcement part of the bill a week before we passed the amnesty part” won’t do, nor will letting President Obama decide when the enforcement mechanisms are sufficiently “in place.” That means a convoluted debate over “triggers,” the traditional playground for legislative legerdemain.*** Legalizers will try to make the prequisites look tough when they aren’t — certainly nothing that can’t be easily dismantled once the undocumented get their documents. Do not count on the press to correct this misimpression. They’re in the “fool the rubes” camp too.

Read more from this story HERE.

Time for GOP to Listen to the American People

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Photo Credit: Townhall

Photo Credit: Townhall

It is clear that the House GOP leadership is preparing to take action on the immigration issue this year. According to reports, the “principles” of immigration reform will be introduced next week and it will include a “pathway” to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our country. The bill will reportedly also mandate improved border security, provide additional visas for foreign workers and require those immigrants seeking legalization to learn English and pay certain fees.

The net effect of this legislation will be to provide “amnesty” for millions of immigrants who ignored our laws to settle in this country. It is a way of rewarding lawbreakers while insulting the Americans who dealt with the arduous process of legally becoming a citizen.

Each year, 1.2 million individuals legally become United States citizens. This legal immigration process should only be expanded if our country needs to import a larger talent pool of workers in certain types of industries, such as healthcare.

House GOP leaders claim that they need to take action on immigration since it is a supposedly pressing issue impacting the country. However, new poll numbers show that Americans are much more concerned about other issues. In fact, according to a new Gallup poll, immigration reform ranks at the bottom of the list of top priorities. The poll showed that only 3% of Americans listed immigration reform as a top priority for 2014.

Read more from this story HERE.

Harry Reid Puts Off Vote on Jobless Benefits, Negotiations with GOP Continue

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Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Photo Credit: Washington Examiner

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Monday delayed a key procedural vote on legislation to extend unemployment benefits for 1.3 million Americans as Democrats and Republicans continued negotiations on a bipartisan accord.

The measure to aid the long-term jobless still needs about a half-dozen Republican votes to clear a 60-vote threshold and advance to a final vote. But Republicans are withholding those votes to pressure Reid to allow votes on Republican amendments to the bill, a demand Reid on Friday hinted he could accept.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., the chief Republican negotiator, confirmed that progress was being made toward a bipartisan agreement on the extension. Heller said any agreement would have to allow votes on GOP amendments and offset the cost with budget cuts.

“There are multiple issues here and that’s why the negotiations are taking so long,” Heller told reporters Monday evening. “I’m pretty optimistic.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Establishment GOP and Karl Rove Declare War on Reaganite Conservative Base of Party in 2014

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Photo Credit: UPI

Photo Credit: UPI

Happy New Year.

It’s war.

While America was celebrating the holidays, the Wall Street Journal ran a page one story the day after Christmas headlined as follows:

GOP, Business Recast Message

Republican Leaders, Allies Aim to Diminish Clout of Most-Conservative Activists

The story said this right up front:

Meanwhile, major donors and advocacy groups, such as the Chamber of Commerce and American Crossroads, are preparing an aggressive effort to groom and support more centrist Republican candidates for Congress in 2014’s midterm elections.

Translation?

Karl Rove (i.e., architect of the American Crossroads SuperPAC), the Chamber of Commerce, and the Washington GOP Establishment have declared war on the Reaganite conservative base of the Republican Party.

Welcome to the 2014 election.

To read more how the Establishment GOP and Karl Rove Declare War on the Reaganite conservative GOP base click HERE.

Let’s Be Honest: Establishment GOP Broke Trust with Military Retirees

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Photo Credit: RedState

Photo Credit: RedState

Republicans in the Senate want to restore veterans benefits to the Paul Ryan – Patty Murray Budget plan.

Harry Reid is blocking the amendment so Republicans are blaming Harry Reid for cutting veterans benefits.

That is intellectually dishonest of the GOP.

Paul Ryan, a Republican, drafted the plan with Patty Murray, a Democrat.

House Republicans overwhelming approved the plan before it even made it to Harry Reid for a vote. The Republicans could have restored the cuts themselves in the House. Instead, they voted for the plan with the cuts to veterans benefits and went home.

Read more from this story HERE.