AZ Congressional Delegation

Rep. Trent Franks dares to explain torture to Sen. John McCain

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Trent_FranksThere are many qualified candidates on the list for the “Worst Member of Congress,” but Arizona’s contribution to this list is Rep. Trent Franks, a Christian Right anti-abortion zealot ( he founded the Arizona Family Research Institute, the predecessor to Center for Arizona Policy) and an avowed Islamophobic bigot.

Arizona’s worst member of Congress dares to explain to Senator John McCain, the only member of Congress who was actually tortured as a prisoner of war, that he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Waterboarding is not torture according to this uninformed ideological extremist (more on this below). I’ll bet Arizona’s angry old man is scrapping to kick his ignorant ass!

The Arizona Republic reports, Franks says McCain wrong, waterboarding not torture:

U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., says the CIA’s use of waterboarding was not torture and that a scathing Senate report on the agency’s secret interrogations released Tuesday was politically motivated.

Franks added that he disagreed with the only member of Congress who has endured torture, Arizona’s senior Sen. John McCain. McCain has called waterboarding “an exquisite form of torture” that is “shameful and unnecessary.”

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Immigration: a clarifying moment for the GOP

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ImmigrantsThe demagogues of the conservative media entertainment complex are all hysterical over President Obama preparing to exercise prosecutorial discretion by executive orders to ease some of the unfairness created by our broken immigration system that Tea-Publicans in Congress have refused to fix.

These demagogues use loaded words like “lawless”and “shredding the Constitution” and refer to the president as an “emperor” (if Obama were an emperor, would not the conservative media entertainment complex all be locked away in a political prison somewhere, unable to spew their daily dose of hateful bile?)

This is, of course, is hyperbolic nonsense. The National Journal has a good historical piece on the use of executive orders by presidents dating back to FDR on immigration matters. Critics Say Executive Action on Immigration Would Be Unprecedented. They Forget Their History. If President Obama is an “emperor” for exercising prosecutorial discretion by executive orders then his predecessors including Saint Ronnie Reagan, “Poppy” Bush and C-Plus Augustus Bush were all emperors as well. Or is it IOKIYAR?

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The stupid stuff I read in The Republic editorial pages

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The Republic’s Laurie Roberts is either incredibly naive, or she is blindly delusional in support of her beloved GOP. In the past week she has written
Republicans could be the heroes on immigration and Here’s how GOP can get back at Obama on immigration.

Screenshot from 2014-03-18 12:40:34The premise of  her columns is essentially that the GOP can enact meaningful immigration reform, with a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented, and then Latino voters will permanently align themselves with the GOP out of eternal gratitude.

That is a rich fantasy life you live, Ms. Roberts. Ain’t. Gonna. Happen.

It didn’t happen in 1987 after the sainted Ronnie Reagan (in your eyes) gave undocumented immigrants actual amnesty.

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deportation

Grijalva & Ellison of Progressive Caucus Urge Obama Immigration Decision

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deportation
National Day Laborer Organizing Network poster

While Republicans are threatening President Obama if he dares to take legal action on immigration through an executive order, the Congressional Progressive Caucus is encouraging him to go bold.  In fact, they’re giving him ideas for action.

“Expansive and robust action that addresses the economic, family, community and national problems we now face is urgently needed… Fixing our broken immigration system will benefit our economy and allow us to use our national security resources more wisely,” write the Progressive Caucus co-chairs Congressmen Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison in their memo. Obama has multiple choices:

  • He could kowtow to the Republicans and do nothing (further infuriating Latinos and progressives).
  • He could extend the two-year-old Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has allowed more than 500,000 Dreamers to stay here temporarily without fear of deportation while Congress diddles. (You’ll remember that the US Senate passed an immigration reform bill in June 2013, but House Republicans have made no movement toward reform.)
  • He could extend DACA to the parents and spouses of Dreamers, adding another 4 million to deferred action.
  • He could change the 2012 qualifications for DACA, adding another 3 million by changing age limits. (Read more details here and below.)

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Live Blogging Election Results

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In an hour, the polls will close. The big question is: Will dark money from the Koch Brothers and their multinational corporate brothers win or will the people win? Will millions of dollars — more than $25 million to buy each Senate seat for Republicans and more than $15 million in Arizona for Republicans — take this … Read more