Mediaboss Marketing

Fourth Congressional District candidate Doug Owens vowed Wednesday to make immigration reform a top campaign priority.

Jordan Allred, Deseret News

Enlarge photo

SALT LAKE CITY Fourth Congressional District candidate Doug Owens vowed Wednesday to make immigration reform a top campaign priority.

Owens' announcement comes a day after Utah business, civic and religious leaders again urged Congress to deal with immigration issues.

"Its time for Congress to set aside party politics and work together to pass real reform to our nations antiquated, ineffective immigration laws, the first-time Democratic candidate said in a prepared statement. I call upon Utahs congressional delegation to begin working on immigration reform now, and I look forward to joining them in those efforts next year.

Owen said he supports reform that strengthens border security, upholds the law, respects the rights of those who contribute to the economy, and includes a pathway to American citizenship.

Owens faces Republican Mia Love for the seat held by seven-term Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, who isn't seeking re-election.

Love, who narrowly lost to Matheson in 2012, favors immigration reform that secures the nation's borders and makes naturalization rules more clear. She would also offer incentives for those who enter and leave the country by charging a fee of a few thousand dollars to people who come on visas and then refund the money when they leave.

Dennis Romboy

Link:
Immigration reform could be issue in Owens, Love race

By Suzanne Gamboa

A co-founder of the Tea Party Express announced support for immigration reform Wednesday.

Sal Russo, co-founder of the organization that uses national bus tours to spread its political views, said Wednesday "conservatives should be leaders in the immigration reform movement."

"There are so many bad ideas about immigration reform that too many conservatives have become satisfied with just saying no The time has come for conservatives to step up and be leaders," he said in a call with reporters. Russo also expressed his support in an opinion article.

Russo said he wants to change the vocabulary on the issue because conservatives equate immigration reform with "amnesty." "We need to get conservatives to the (House) floor. Too many conservatives have not been," Russo said.

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., immediately lauded Russo in a statement. "It is clear that conservatives understand that we cannot continue to have a system with porous borders that hurts our economy and threatens our national security interests," said Diaz-Balart, who has been trying to build support among his GOP colleagues.

Also Wednesday, the pro-immigration reform groups Partnership for a New American Economy and Americans for Tax Reform released a national survey of 400 Republican primary voters who identify with the Tea Party.

The survey found 71 percent thought Congress should act on immigration this year and 76 percent support improved border security and enforcement, as well as a way to let immigrants remain in the U.S.

Also, 70 percent support providing legal status or U.S. citizenship for immigrants illegally here. Sixty-nine percent said they'd support a candidate who backs broad reform.

The survey has a margin of error of 4.9 percent and was done May 9-12.

Read the original post:
Tea Party Leader Calls for Conservative-Led Immigration Reform

After months of being on the receiving end of criticism that theyre not doing enough on immigration, Senate Democrats are aggressively pushing the focus back to House Republicans.

Liberal activists and lawmakers have largely concentrated on President Barack Obama recently, urging his administration to ease deportations. Now, some of those same voices are training their fire on the GOP lawmakers in the House taking seriously threats from congressional Republicans that major executive action could kill the prospects of reform altogether.

The rhetorical pressure was on full display Wednesday with twin speeches on the Senate floor, as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took turns blasting House Republicans for not moving on immigration reform so far this year and warning them that time is running out.

I want to be clear what our window is for the House to pass immigration reform it is the window between early June and the August recess, said Schumer, a member of the Senates Gang of Eight that produced a comprehensive reform bill that cleared the chamber nearly one year ago. If Speaker [John] Boehner, [Majority] Leader [Eric] Cantor and other Republican leaders refuse to schedule a vote on immigration reform during this window it will not pass until 2017 at the earliest.

(Also on POLITICO: Tea party leader backs immigration reform)

Reid noted that Wednesday marked 321 days since his chamber passed a sweeping comprehensive reform bill.

We need to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, he said. We can only do that if the Republicans in the House, led by Speaker Boehner, do the right thing.

The strategy reflects a renewed hope that at least some type of immigration reform legislation is still possible after the issue has stalled on Capitol Hill for the past year amid intense opposition from conservatives in the House.

Buzz about a potential reform effort is growing this week. Speaking in San Antonio on Monday, Boehner said he still wants to do immigration reform and noted that lawmakers in both parties are getting closer on the policy side.

But the window for a new law or even smaller pieces of a comprehensive bill is rapidly closing. Obama noted on Tuesday that lawmakers have just two, three months to get the ball rolling.

Visit link:
House pressed on immigration

David Allen Legal Tuesday: Flashing Automobile Lights and the First Amendment
Michael Elli drove his vehicle through a speed trap. He warned an oncoming vehicle of the speed trap by flashing his lights. The Missouri town in which this occurred had an ordinance which...

By: David Allen

Read more:
David Allen Legal Tuesday: Flashing Automobile Lights and the First Amendment - Video

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid wholeheartedly endorsed a constitutional amendment to limit campaign spending on Thursday, putting the Senate on course to vote on the matter as early as July.

Reid said that the Senate Judiciary Committee will take up the amendment on June 3, which allows Congress and the states to limit fundraising and spending on federal campaigns and gives lawmakers the ability to regulate outside groups. From there, the amendment will go to the Senate floor, where it has little chance of passing due to broad GOP opposition to meddling with campaign finance laws.

But Democrats believe the failed vote on the amendment, which needs the backing of 67 senators, will still pay dividends in the run-up to the midterm elections, painting Republicans as supporters of big money in politics and Democrats as on the side of ordinary voters.

(On POLITICO Magazine: Democrats have a Koch problem)

Let me pose a question to everyone, including my friend the Republican Leader [Mitch McConnell]. If this unprecedented spending is free speech, where does that leave our middle-class constituents? The poor? Reid said Thursday morning. It leaves them out in the cold. How could everyday working families afford to make their voices heard if money equals free speech?

Republicans quickly rebutted Reid, accusing him of moving to limit Americans First Amendment rights.

Todays proposal by the Senate Majority Leader represents an all-out assault on the right to free speech, a right which undergirds all others in our democracy. Its also a clear sign of just how desperate elected Washington Democrats have become in their quest to hold onto power, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Washington Democrats have shown again and again how determined they are to shut down the voices of anyone who disagrees with them, whether its targeting groups through the IRS or looking over the shoulders of reporters at local newspapers and on news radio. But this latest proposal goes beyond everything theyve attempted previously.

(Also on POLITICO: American Bridge starts Koch project)

Even John McCain, a previous supporter of campaign finance reform, said in an interview that he will vote against the amendment, calling it as exercise in hypocrisy for Democrats.

Visit link:
Reid backs campaign spending limit