Tag Archives: Republicans

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS OPPOSE TIGHTENING OF U.S. VISA WAIVER PROGRAM

November 23, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – Senate Democrats, in an effort to head off legislation that would overhaul a program to take in Syrian and Iraqi refugees, are focusing instead on tightening a program that makes it easier for foreigners to travel to the U.S. without obtaining a visa. And Republicans are vehemently against the move.

The visa waiver program (VWP) allows foreign citizens of 38 countries to enter the U.S. for as long as 90 days without a visa, thereby avoiding an in-person interview at an embassy or consulate. At least 19 million foreign nationals enter the U.S. each year through the visa waiver program.

The program is under scrutiny following the Paris terror attacks over concerns that it could be a weak spot in the security system. Islamic State operative Abdelhamid Abaaoud, suspected of organizing the Paris attacks, was a citizen of Belgium, which participates in the visa waiver program. Richard Reid, a British citizen who is now in prison for attempting to blow up a plane flying to the U.S. with a bomb in his shoe, is a citizen of the U.K., which also participates in VWP.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Monday, said that his party strongly opposes any changes to the existing VWP on the grounds that this would be discriminatory.

“If we are going to do this, we must also do it for Mastercard, American Express and Discover,” Ryan pointed out.

LGBT, Politics

MIKE HUCKABEE CHIPS AWAY AT DONALD TRUMP’S MEDIA MONOPOLY

September 25, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Huckabee, left, and the rainbow Doritos chips

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Donald Trump launched his bid for the Republican presidential nomination by waging war against Mexicans and immigrants and it has paid off for him and his campaign. He continues to surge as the frontrunner in the polls, way ahead of his GOP co-candidates.

Mike Huckabee is fast catching on, however, and may finally be chipping away on Trump’s monopoly on media coverage.

First, Huckabee jumped on the national controversy regarding Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in violation of a court order. Upon her release from county prison, Huckabee stood by Davis’ side and proclaimed that the courts and others are engaged in an attack against Christian values.

Now, Huckabee is attacking Doritos, makers of tortilla and other kinds of chips, and he is getting the media attention he has been seeking.

After Frito-Lay this month said it would mail rainbow-colored Doritos chips to consumers who donate money to the It Gets Better Project, a nonprofit helping the LGBT community, Huckabee went on the offensive against the snack-maker.

In a letter sent to Frito-Lay on Tuesday, Huckabee said Dan Savage, the man behind the group benefiting from the bags, has for years made “very hateful and vulgar comments toward Christians” and called “for violence and injury to people he disagrees with.”

The letter follows one he sent four days earlier in which Huckabee first asked Frito-Lay to stop raising money for Savage’s project. The chip maker has not responded to either letter.

So far, the only apparent response Huckabee was getting was news that Doritos has sold out all of its rainbow-colored chips and has a long back-order list that it is trying to fulfill.

(There is also some unconfirmed news that the state of California is in short supply of avocados, the main ingredient in guacamole which goes perrfectly with Dorito chips.)

It is a win for Doritos and the LGBT community, but it is a loss for Trump who is on the losing end of Huckabee’s media-grabbing antics.

Is this the beginning of the end for Trump?

Festivals, Politics

IOWA STATE FAIR RENAMED IOWA CIRCUS

August 16, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

DES MOINES, Iowa (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – The state of Iowa holds a very special significance in any U.S. presidential elections. Because of the Iowa caucuses.

The Iowa caucuses are an electoral event in which residents of the state of meet in precinct caucuses in all of its 1,682 precincts and elect delegates to the corresponding county conventions. Iowa is the first state in the nation to hold caucuses in a presidential election year.

It is for this reason that Republican and Democratic presidential candidates were all in Des Moines this weekend, partaking of Iowa pork and everything that the Iowa State Fair offers. Not to mention great opportunities for political campaigning.

This year, the organizing committee of the Iowa State Fair decided to rename the event to Iowa Circus to better reflect the high-profile guests that have come to town.

With 17 Republican candidates and four Democrats hitting the fair grounds, the committee thought that ‘circus’ would be a more approriate name, especially with the field of clowns and comedians that make up the Republican group of presidential aspirants.

And we’re not just talking about Donald Trump!