Insider Report
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories):
1. Michele Bachmann Scores Highest on Immigration
2. Richard Grenell: Jane Harman Should Pay for Election
3. Sen. Hatch Bill Would Plug 'National Security Loophole'
4. Biggest U.S. Aid Recipients Oppose America at U.N.
5. Rasmussen: Buyers Spurn GM Over Bailout
6. Heard: The Gipper, David Letterman, Obama's Teleprompter
1. Michele Bachmann Scores Highest on Immigration
An organization lobbying for a tougher stance on illegal immigration has rated 10 potential Republican candidates for president in 2012 — and only Michele Bachmann rates as high as a B-minus.
NumbersUSA grades the candidates based on 12 factors, including opposition to amnesty for illegals, support for punishing employers who hire undocumented immigrants, willingness to fund and implement border security measures, support for ending birthright citizenship, and opposition to current high immigration levels.
"The 12 categories on this grid deal with the vast majority of problems with current immigration policies that grant more than 1 million permanent work visas to immigrants each year, and which allow an estimated 7 million jobs in construction, service, manufacturing and transportation to be filled by illegal foreign workers," the organization states on its website.
"These policies also drive the majority of additional demands on the physical, social and natural infrastructures of the country, since new immigrants and births to immigrants account for more than three-quarters of the 30 million additional people added to the U.S. population growth each decade."
President Barack Obama got the lowest rating, F-minus, with an "Abysmal" mark in several categories, including opposition to amnesty and legalization of undocumented aliens.
Among the Republican hopefuls, Chris Christie got an F grade. Haley Barbour, Newt Gingrich, and Sarah Palin received a D-minus rating. Palin was applauded with an "Excellent" mark for her position on securing the borders, but was graded "Unhelpful" in the majority of categories.
Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee were graded D. Ron Paul and John Thune got a C-minus, and Tim Pawlenty rated a C-plus.
Boosting Bachmann to a B-minus were "Excellent" marks for her opposition to amnesty, support for local law enforcement, and her calls for securing the borders and ending birthright citizenship.
The ratings "are not report cards on past actions, which matter but not as much as what these politicians now say in the news media or on official websites," NumbersUSA says.
"These grades and ratings are about what a hopeful says a president should do about immigration."
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2. Richard Grenell: Jane Harman Should Pay for Election
Former Democratic Rep. Jane Harman should pay for the special election she necessitated in California when she resigned from the House just weeks after beginning her term, political adviser Richard Grenell declares.
Harman, who served eight terms in Congress representing a Los Angeles-area district, resigned on Feb. 11 to head the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. As a result, taxpayers will have to foot the bill for a special election to fill her seat.
Harman is married to electronics tycoon and new Newsweek publisher Sidney Harman and is "worth an estimated $300 million, and so she thinks she can dine and dash at taxpayers' expense," Grenell, who served as communications director for four U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, wrote in an opinion piece.
"She quit Congress because the Democrats were no longer in control and millionaires don't like to toil away in the minority."
Grenell questions whether Harman had any intention of finishing her term, noting that Woodrow Wilson Center President Lee Hamilton announced in May 2010 that he would be leaving his post.
"If it is found that Harman was already making inquiries to take the Center's top job before her November election, then she owes the voters an apology," he stated in his article, which appeared on the Huffington Post website.
"Resigning a few weeks in to a two-year term is offensive to the voters. Harman should pay for the election to fill her vacancy with her personal fortune and reimburse the taxpayers for her ego-centric decision. Harman can afford it."
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3. Sen. Hatch Bill Would Plug 'National Security Loophole'
Sen. Orrin Hatch has introduced legislation to end the Diversity Visa Program, which each year brings 50,000 low-skilled individuals into the United States from countries around the world — including state sponsors of terrorism such as Iran.
The Diversity Visa Program (DV) is "an unfortunate blind spot in our immigration system that has outlived its purpose," according to a report from the Center for Immigration Studies.
"The applicants for these 50,000 'lottery' immigration slots require few skills. The program does not know, really, who these applicants are nor their true purpose in coming to the United States. The program is a national security loophole, and has been used by terrorists and organized criminals to not only enter the U.S., but bring others to the U.S. as well."
The DV program was created in 1990. In 2009, Iran was the third largest recipient of DVs among nations in Asia, and 12th largest overall, as 1,117 Iranians were allowed to enter the United States.
Three other nations designated as state sponsors of terror — Somalia, Syria, and Cuba — received a total of 313 DVs. The visas also went to residents of Sudan (592 visas) and Yemen (51), two nations with active terrorist populations, and 253 visas were issued to citizens of Venezuela.
Receiving at least 2,000 DVs were Kenya, Egypt, Turkey, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Albania, and Uzbekistan.
"There are no stop-gaps against fraud to determine qualifications nor properly vet identity or derogatory intelligence to assure that radicalized individuals do not enter the United States on a DV," the Center points out.
At least one terrorist incident resulted from the DV program. On July 4, 2002, Egyptian gunman Hesham Hedayet killed two people at the Los Angeles ticket counter of Israeli airline El Al before being killed by a security guard. He had obtained permanent resident status because his wife got a DV in 1996.
The House voted to abolish the Diversity Visa Program in 2005, but the Senate never passed the bill.
Sen. Hatch, R-Utah, has introduced a bill containing a provision that would repeal the DV program unless Congress specifically reauthorized it.
In support of the bill, the Center praises Hatch for "not shying away" from the obvious: The DV program "has outlived its usefulness." Instead, it "assertively creates national security vulnerabilities by admitting foreign nationals it cannot viably vet from state sponsors of terror, acts to support criminal human trafficking, and perpetuates low-skill economic migration during a time when Americans need jobs desperately."
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4. Biggest U.S. Aid Recipients Oppose America at U.N.
Of the 15 countries receiving the largest amount of aid from the United States, 14 voted against American positions at the United Nations more than half the time — including Afghanistan, Egypt, and Mexico.
That troubling fact comes to light as a congressman is putting forth an amendment to cut off U.S. aid to nations that routinely oppose American positions at the world body.
According to the amendment from Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, a U.N. member state could not receive aid if it voted contrary to the American stance more than 50 percent of the time in the most recent session of the U.N. General Assembly.
The Foreign Relations Authorization Act requires the State Department to send to Congress a yearly report on how other nations voted in the General Assembly, compared to America's vote.
The most recent report, for 2009, shows that of the 15 nations that got more than $300 million in American aid during the fiscal year coinciding with the year under State Department review, only Israel voted with the U.S. more than half the time — 97 percent.
Ethiopia, a big aid recipient, voted with America just 8.6 percent of the time. The rest of the 15 nations were Sudan (16.4 percent), Egypt (17.7), Jordan (21.3), Uganda (22.4), Kenya (28.1), Zambia (28.8), South Africa (29.4), Afghanistan (29.9), Nigeria (30), Pakistan (30), Tanzania (32.3), Colombia (33.3), and Mexico (36.8).
Of the 53 nations in Africa, only one — the Seychelles — voted along with the U.S. the majority of the time, while European Union members sided with America 63.9 percent of the time.
Although the United States pays 22 percent of the regular U.N. operating budget, CNS News observes, its vote holds no more weight in the General Assembly than a vote from any of the other 191 members, including those that contribute less than 0.1 percent of the budget.
Other amendments proposed in Congress would go even further than Gohmert's. One from Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., would prohibit the U.S. from paying any dues at all to the U.N.
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5. Rasmussen: Buyers Spurn GM Over Bailout
A significant number of Americans are less likely to buy a General Motors vehicle because the company received a taxpayer bailout and then was taken over by the federal government, a Rasmussen poll reveals.
In the new survey, 44 percent of adult respondents said they are less likely to purchase a GM car, just 8 percent are more likely, and the remainder said the bailout has no impact on their buying decisions.
By contrast, 45 percent of respondents said they are more likely to buy a Ford vehicle because the company did not take any bailout funding from the government. Ten percent said they are less likely and the rest said the company's decision has no impact on what car they will buy.
More than one in five respondents, 23 percent, said they or someone they know avoided buying a GM car due to the bailout, while 17 percent said they or someone they know bought a Ford vehicle because of the company's decision not to take bailout funds.
Rasmussen also found that 57 percent of voters believe the government bailouts of banks, automotive and insurance companies were bad for the country.
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that taxpayers will lose $19 billion as the result of the auto bailouts.
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6. We Heard: The Gipper, David Letterman, Obama's Teleprompter
THAT President Barack Obama referred to himself as "The Gipper" — Ronald Reagan's nickname — at White House press secretary Robert Gibbs' final press briefing.
Obama recounted an anecdote from the 2004 Democratic National Convention when he was undecided about what tie to wear just 10 minutes before he was to deliver his speech.
"I had bought five, six ties," he said when he appeared with Gibbs at the Feb. 11 briefing. "[First lady] Michelle didn't like any of them.
"Then somebody said, 'What about Gibbs' tie? That might look good.' And frankly, Robert didn't want to give it up because he thought he looked really good in the tie. But eventually he was willing to take one for the Gipper, so he took off his tie, and I put it on."
THAT "The Late Show with David Letterman" was duped when it wrongly announced that actress Lindsay Lohan would appear on Thursday's show.
Just hours after the announcement, Lohan said on Twitter: "I am not going to be doing David Letterman. I'm not sure how this happened."
Tom Keaney, a spokesman for Letterman's production company, said on Wednesday: "We made a mistake. Someone purporting to be a friend of Lindsay's reached out to the show yesterday, allegedly on her behalf, and booked her to appear.
"Clearly, the person was not authorized to make commitments on her behalf."
Lohan was recently arraigned for the alleged theft of a $2,500 necklace from a jewelry store.
THAT when it comes to the Republican House's battle with President Obama over cutting federal spending, it's getting personal.
An amendment proposed by Rep. Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican, would eliminate funding for Obama's teleprompter.
Womack later withdrew the amendment, but he told Fox News: "I think we made our point. We're asking people to do more with less. And I think the president ought to lead by example. He is already a very gifted speaker. And I think that's one platform he could do without."
Another amendment, proposed by Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer, would strip funding for the alteration, repair, or improvement of the executive residence of Obama's White House.
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