*McCain's amnesty agenda is baaaaack!
*McCain's next stop: La Raza
*Gas tax: to suspend or not to suspend?
*Microsoft Surface: one big bleeping table!
*Weather Channel founder: "No global warming"

05.06.08 Briefing • Steve Elliott, Grassfire.org • Subscribe here • RSS

And I suppose those who disagree with McCain's amnesty record are "inhumane" and "uncompassionate".

"Comprehensive" Once Again
Most significantly, McCain came back to his "comprehensive" (i.e. amnesty) roots in a speech designed to cater to Latino voters. McCain said, "We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration reform in the Congress of the United States, and the lesson I learned from it is we've got to have comprehensive immigration reform"

Watch the segment from last night's Lou Dobbs show by clicking here or the image.

Clearly, McCain was floating the combustible term "comprehensive" in a measured way to see what reaction he gets. What this means is, "Amnesty McCain" is back. Thus far, most in the media (except Lou Dobbs) barely picked up on this very significant mention. Unless McCain gets feedback from citizens across the nation objecting to his use of the word "comprehensive" and his clear move back to his original amnesty position, we can expect to hear more amnesty talk from the G.O.P. standard-bearer in the coming months.

Action: Call McCain and let him know you object to his re-introduction
of a "comprehensive" (amnesty) into his campaign position on immigratiion.
Senate office: 202-224-2235; Campaign office: 703-418-2008.

By the way, as part of his big Latino-focused day, the McCain campaign announced that he will attend the National Council of La Raza ("The Race") annual convention July 14 in San Diego.

Today: McCain's judicial philosophy
Conservatives will be watching closely today as McCain addresses his judicial philosophy during a speech in North Carolina. While McCain has some credibility in stating he supports a "conservative judicial philosophy," he also will have a tought time overcoming his role in the "Gang of 14" -- the SEnators who banded together to give Democrats more say in the judicial confirmation process. Wall Street Journal analysis here. Text of speech here.

Gas tax: to suspend or not to suspend
The Washington Times has a good editorial on whether HIllary's idea of suspending the gas tax makes economic sense. Their conclusion:
As pandering goes, the gas-tax suspension is small potatoes. It would save motorists about $10 per month this summer — if the savings are fully realized by the consumer, which is doubtful. Suspending the tax would temporarily lower the price, which would boost demand. Because gasoline supplies are fixed during the summer months when refineries are already running flat out, the increased demand would raise the price; and the beneficiaries would be the oil companies, not consumers. The market-clearing price would likely approximate the level that included the tax.

That seems to make sense, but what doesn't make sense is that Americans do not know what the gas tax amounts to. Why are gas prices posted post-tax, while nearly every other product or service is priced pre-tax? How come the taxes are often not even posted? Because the government does not want consumers to know or even think about the taxes. So I say, suspend the gas tax until there is full disclosure. Let's stop "taxation with presentation."

Praying for Ramos and Compean
Finally, yesterday Rep. Dana Rohrabacher held a press conference with members of the families of imprisoned border patrol agents Ramos and Compean to announce a call to pray for the agents this Sunday. It has been five months is the Circuit Court heard their appeal. Attorneys expected the ruling in 60-90 days but now the wait is going beyond five months. Grassfire.org is urging all our team members to join this call to prayer this Sunday.

On the WEb today:
60 illegals caught in big rig near San Diego
Fed warns of "spillover effect"
NYTimes speaks of "recession" but there is no "recession"
Days of ethanol mandates may be numbered
Christian voters key to U.S. elections
Weather Channel founder: "There is no Global Warming underway"
Signs of crackdowns on illegals (Grassfire blog)

Just for fun... Parody of Microsoft's "Surface"
Perhaps you heard about Microsoft's latest big thing... really big thing. It's called Microsoft "Surface." Essentially, it's a giant table-sized iPhone, except it doesn't make calls and it doesn't fit in your pocket. Announced a year ago, Microsoft rolled it out in a few AT&T stores to help promote cell phone sales. As a 100% Macintosh guy, I thought you'd enjoy this parody (warning on the language):