Click here to view this media

Heritage Foundation President Jim DeMint on Monday said that he opposed a bipartisan plan for comprehensive immigration reform because "unlawful immigrants" could live "another 50 years" and take advantage of government benefits that they earned by paying taxes.

At a press conference on Monday, the Heritage Foundation released a report that claimed the immigration reform bill offered by the "Gang of Eight" senators would cost Americans $6.3 trillion.

"The number over the 50-year lifespan of an amnesty for unlawful immigrants, it's $6.3 trillion to the American taxpayer," DeMint told Fox News host Martha MacCallum prior to the press conference. "And we know over time that this is going to increase more debt, increase taxes. That has a depressing effect on our economy. And we know that unlawful immigrants -- once that they have amnesty -- are going to replace the jobs of many Americans and depress their salaries."

"So there is no way you can look at this and conclude that it's good for the American taxpayer, and that includes immigrants who are here lawfully."

MacCallum noted that most benefits would not be available to immigrants for 13 years under the proposed plan.

"I'll believe that when I see it," the former South Carolina senator quipped. "Even if they follow through, unlawful immigrants are already receiving many benefits. A lot of their children are legal American citizens, whether its public education or Medicaid. But if you just look at a 13-year window when the life expectancy of unlawful immigrants goes another 50 years and once they get on Social Security and Medicare -- I mean, the average cost of an unlawful immigrant is hundreds of thousands of dollars."

DeMint added that he was all for immigration reform as long as "lower-skilled, less-educated" immigrants were excluded from the plan.

"In 1960, the average immigrant had about the same education and skill level of an American citizen. Today, immigrants have -- they're four times less likely to even have a high school diploma. And now with all of our welfare benefits, the arithmetic for immigration is totally different."

(h/t: Twitter/@igorvolsky)

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/demint-complains-unlawful-immigrants-could-l

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

09:08

Click here to view this media

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday declared that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was at fault for failing to prevent last week's bombing in Boston.

In an interview on CNN's State of the Union, host Candy Crowley noted that the FBI had interviewed deceased bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011, but wondered if it was fair to blame the agency for not anticipating something that happened two years later.

"The ball was dropped in one of two ways," Graham opined. "The FBI missed a lot of things is one potential answer or our laws do not allow the FBI to follow up in a sound, solid way. There was a lot to be learned from this guy. He was on websites talking about killing Americans."

"This was a mistake," he added. "I don't know if our laws are insufficient or the FBI failed, but we're at war with radical Islamists and we need to up our game."

House Intelligence Committee Mike Rogers (R-MI), however, on Sunday insisted that the FBI was not to blame, arguing that the bureau "did their due diligence and did a very thorough job."

Crowley also pressed the Graham on his assertion that surviving Boston bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev should be treated as an enemy combatant and should be interrogated without being informed of his Miranda rights.

"This man should be designated as a potential enemy combatant and we should be allowed to question him for intelligence gathering purposes to find out about future attacks and terrorist organizations that may exist that he has knowledge of and that evidence cannot be used against him in trial," the senior South Carolina senator argued. "Anytime we question him about his guilt or innocence, he is entitled to his Miranda rights and a lawyer."

"But we have the right under our law -- I've been a military lawyer for 30 years -- to gather intelligence from enemy combatants. And a citizen can be an enemy combatant."

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/lindsey-graham-blames-fbi-boston-bombing-bal

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

09:08

Click here to view this media

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) says that Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev should be treated as an enemy combatant and does not deserve to be informed of his Miranda rights to remain silent because the "battlefield is now in the United States."

In an interview on Sunday, Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) if Tsarnaev should be treated as a criminal or an enemy combatant.

Feinstein argued that providing a Miranda warning to the suspect, who is a U.S. citizen, was "the only legal way to proceed."

"I do not believe that under the military commission law that he is eligible for that," she explained. "It would be unconstitutional to do that."

But King disagreed, saying that Tsarnaev "should be treated as a enemy combatant for the purpose of interrogation."

"The reason for it is there are so many questions unanswered, there are so many potential links to terrorism here," he continued. "Also, the battlefield is now in the United States. So, I believe he is an enemy combatant."

The New York Republican added that the suspect would be tried in a civilian court and the statements taken during interrogations could not be used against him in the trial.

"But right now he is one of the only links we have in any Chechen involvement in the al Qaeda movement, in the overall Islamist movement. And we don't know, are there other conspirators out there? Are there other explosives out there? Where did they get their radicalization? Are there mosques, imams that we should be looking at? Who did his brother meet with when he was in Russia, in Chechnya? These are only questions that I believe can be obtained if he does not get is Miranda rights."

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/peter-king-treat-bomber-enemy-combatant-beca

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

09:22

Click here to view this media

Conservative columnist George Will on Sunday told Republicans that they should get behind immigration reform because "conservatism begins with facing facts."

During a panel segment on ABC's This Week, Will said that he understood immigration reform opponents -- like Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) -- who think allowing a path to citizenship would be "rewarding lawbreaking."

"However, conservatism begins with facing facts," he explained. "The facts are that of the 11 million people who are here illegally, two-thirds have been here a decade of more; 30 percent, 15 years or more. They're woven into our society, they're not leaving and the American people would not tolerate the police measures necessary to extract them from our communities."

"Therefore, the great consensus has to be on the details of a path to citizenship," Will insisted, adding that "even if the system weren't broken, even if we had no illegal immigrants, we'd still need to do something about this because we need the workers as the baby boomers retire and as the birth rate declines, we need something to replenish the workforce to sustain the welfare state."

A study published last year in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that conservatives were more likely to contort facts to justify their beliefs.

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/george-will-conservatism-begins-facing-facts

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

08:22

Click here to view this media

Conservative rocker Ted Nugent on Monday insisted that he had just been using a metaphor when he called President Barack Obama "the Chicago gangster" and then asked a NRA television host to "help me shoot somebody."

In an interview on NRA News, host Cam Edwards explained that the president's proposed universal background check legislation might as well be called "the Ban Ted Nugent Act of 2013."

"Do you realize, Ted, that under the language right now, any time somebody went to your ranch and you loaned them a gun to do some hunting or to do some plinking that would be a five-year felony?" Edwards told Nugent.

The Motor City Madman reminded Edwards that it was only a year ago that he had promised to be "dead or in jail" by the Spring of 2013 if Obama was re-elected.

"And I know it caught a lot of my friends off guard, when I said if this America-hater, if this freedom-hater, if this enemy of America becomes the president again I'll either be dead or in jail," Nugent recalled. "So it's funny that I might be dead or in jail. And that is so indicative of how callous and disconnected some are, because you are talking about arbitrary, punitive, capricious draconian felonies."

The rocker went on to complain that most people were not willing to take action even thought the federal government had engaged in "freedom-stomping and jack-booted thuggery."

"And here we are, with the Chicago gangster, ACORN rip-off scam-artist-in-chief because we, who know better, were silent," he quipped. "And the Nugent guy, well he's a radical. And again, it's not about me. I don't want a pat on the back. I don't need one."

"But when I kick the door down to the enemy's camp, would you help me shoot somebody?" Nugent asked Edwards. "Just help me clear the room."

He quickly added that his threat to "shoot somebody" had been "a metaphor."

"I'm not recommending shooting anybody. It's a metaphor of how to counterpunch the enemy if someone is willing to be on the frontline."

After interviewing Nugent last year, the Secret Service eventually determined that he was not a threat to the president.

(h/t: Media Matters)

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/nugent-calls-obama-chicago-gangster-and-asks

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

08:08

Click here to view this media

The founder of a Colorado gun group is looking forward to November's "hunting season" because it will be "time to hunt Democrats."

Dudley Brown, who serves as the executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and the executive vice president of the National Association for Gun Rights, used some violent rhetoric during a Wednesday interview with NPR about how gun owners would deal with Democrats who supported President Barack Obama's proposal for universal background checks.

"I liken it to the proverbial hunting season," Brown quipped. "We tell gun owners, 'There's a time to hunt deer. And the next election is the time to hunt Democrats.'"

"This is a very Western state with traditional Western values," he pointed out. "And citizens had to have firearms for self-defense, and right now that's still the case."

A 2010 post on Sarah Palin’s Facebook page had placed crosshairs over Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ congressional district only months before the Democratic congresswoman was shot in January of 2011. Palin had said supporters should “reload” and use their votes to “aim for” the Democrat’s defeat.

(h/t: Think Progress)

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/colorado-gun-group-leader-theres-time-hunt-d

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

07:22

Click here to view this media

The former chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) says that the Republican Party has been "cast in the negative" by the media for opposing marriage equality, but the focus should be on how the party is compassionate for allowing LGBT people hospital visitation rights.

During a Sunday panel discussion on Fox News, host Chris Wallace asked former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, who was also a senior advisor to former nominee Mitt Romney and former President George W. Bush, how the Republican Party would deal with the public opinion quickly trending toward equal rights for LGBT people.

"I don't see the Republican Party or most Republicans changing in terms of marriage is between one man and one woman," Gillespie explained. "I do think that in the context of this debate, as in so many other debates, Republicans have been cast in the negative -- you know in the negative, saying we're opposing something as opposed to talking about what most Republicans are for."

"Most Republicans are also for the benefits of marriage in the legal system that are afforded protections like, for example, hospital visitation rights or survivorship benefits," he added. "And I think you'll hear more Republicans making that point, that we can do those things without having the government sanction same sex marriage."

Wallace wondered if Gillespie would have any problem with the 2016 Republican Party platform saying that "marriage is between a man and a woman."

"I wouldn't have any problem with that," the former RNC chairman insisted. "I believe the platform right now calls for a federal constitutional amendment to ban it. There may be a debate about that. I don't think you would ever see the Republican Party platform say we're in favor of same sex marriage."

(h/t: @igorvolsky)

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/former-rnc-chair-ed-gillespie-republicans-ar

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

10:07

Click here to view this media

The chairman of the Republican Party on Sunday explained that he had a plan to turn around his party's recent losing streak by having less debates, earlier conventions, "hackathons" and more "marketing" -- cosmetic changes that give candidates fewer chances to damage themselves without any serious policy changes.

In an interview with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on Face the Nation, CBS host Bob Schieffer noted that the GOP had recently completed a study after conducting focus groups and polling thousands of people about Republican losses in 2012.

"What did the focus groups -- what did they tell you about what people think about the Republican Party?" the CBS host wondered.

"They told us what you would think that they would think," Priebus sighed. "Number one, we're a little too math focused and not focused on people's hearts, so that we don't relate to average Americans more than we should -- stuffy old guys too much."

"And it really is painful to hear because reality is, we got a very young party," he continued, citing Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC). "But it just kind of shows you, we've done a lousy job of branding and marketing who we are."

"And so one of the things we've brought out of this is not just branding and marketing around election time, but year round."

Priebus explained that part of his plan included compressing the Republican primaries, having less debates and an earlier convention.

"[The debates] hurt because there was no way to control it," he insisted. "So while we were playing footsie debating each other 23 times, what was the other side doing? They were spending potentially hundreds of millions dollars on data, technology, voter outreach. They were actually getting the job done. We were debating and bailing the Republican National Committee out of debt. That tells you a lot of the story."

"So if it gets to technology and all of the work that we need to do there and opening our technology efforts up to an open source, setting up an office in the Silicon Valley, doing hackathons across the country. This is going to be huge, Bob. And we're ready to go and we're ready to lead."

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/rnc-chair-fix-gop-hackathons-marketing-year-

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

07:27

Click here to view this media

CNN media critic Howard Kurtz on Sunday said that Fox News host Sean Hannity had "surrendered the high ground" when he followed up an explosive interview with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) by comparing the African-American congressman to a white supremacist hate group.

In an interview last week, Ellison had appeared on Hannity's show and blasted the Fox News host for being "the worst excuse for a journalist I’ve ever seen.”

Hannity responded two days later by linking Ellison to the controversial Nation of Islam and black militant Khalid Muhammad, whom he said wanted to “kill the women, everything white that’s in sight — kill the women, kill the babies, kill the children, kill the old people.”

The conservative host continued by saying that the Democratic lawmaker was the "equivalent" of the Ku Klux Klan.

“Do we have somebody then in Congress that is the equivalent on one side what the Klan is?” Hannity asked. “Because I view the rabid rantings of Khalid Muhammad as frightening.”

On Sunday, Kurtz noted that Ellison had made a mistake because "Hannity's not a journalist, he's a conservative commentator."

"What was troubling here was Ellison accepted the invitation to come on and then seemed only interested in attacking Hannity," the CNN host argued. "But I do have to deduct points over what Hannity did later in the week: He attacked Ellison, who is Muslim, for having written two papers supporting [Nation of Islam leader] Louis Farrakhan as a law student and suggesting that Ellison might be the -- quote -- 'equivalent' of the Ku Klux Klan."

"Even Hannity had to allude the fact that the congressman apologized a half dozen years ago for once having supported Farrakhan," Kurtz pointed out.

"And with that, Hannity surrendered the high ground."

via Crooks and Liars http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/howard-kurtz-rips-hannity-comparing-black

Crooks and Liars David johalputt

06:10