Normally, I talk about Michele Bachmann, Marsha Blackburn or Sarah Palin a lot. Or maybe Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman. But this week, the Republican governors of Arizona and Hawaii are in the news.
Here’s the story from the Washington Times about Jan Brewer.
Excerpt:
The Obama administration sued Tuesday to stop Arizona’s new immigration law in a move that escalates President Obama’s involvement in the thorny issue and stacks him against a majority of Americans who support the law.
The challenge, which had been expected for weeks, drew harsh rebukes from Republicans and even some Democrats who said it is “distracting” from the more serious issues of border security and could upset Mr. Obama’s call for Congress to act on a broad immigration bill that would legalize illegal immigrants and rewrite the rules for legal immigration.
In the challenge, Justice Department attorneys said Arizona’s law violates the Constitution by trying to supersede federal law and by impairing illegal immigrants’ right to travel and conduct interstate commerce. They argued that only the federal government can write immigration rules.
“Diverting federal resources away from dangerous aliens such as terrorism suspects and aliens with criminal records will impact the entire country’s safety,” Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said in announcing the lawsuit. “Setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility. Seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it solves.”
[…]Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said that if the Obama administration was consistent in its argument over patchwork immigration laws it would sue to stop so-called sanctuary cities, which generally protect the identities of illegal immigrants.
“The truth is the Arizona law is both reasonable and constitutional,” she said. “It mirrors substantially what has been federal law in the United States for many decades. Arizona’s law is designed to complement, not supplant, enforcement of federal immigration laws.”
[…]Mrs. Brewer, a Republican who is running for election this year, has hired outside attorneys to defend the law rather than rely on Terry Goddard, Arizona’s attorney general, who had opposed the law and who is likely to be the Democratic challenger to Mrs. Brewer in November.
Illegal immigration costs 113 billion dollars per year.
And here’s the story from CNS News about Linda Lingle. (H/T Wes Widner)
Excerpt:
Hawaii’s governor ended months of speculation by vetoing contentious civil unions legislation that would have granted gay, lesbian and opposite-sex couples the same rights and benefits that the state provides to married couples.
Republican Gov. Linda Lingle’s action on Tuesday came on the final day she had to either sign or veto the bill, which was approved by the Legislature in late April.
The measure would have made Hawaii one of six states that essentially grant the rights of marriage to same-sex couples without authorizing marriage itself. Five other states and the District of Columbia permit same-sex marriage.
Lingle said voters should decide the fate of civil unions, not politicians.
“The subject of this legislation has touched the hearts and minds of our citizens as no other social issue of our day,” she said. “It would be a mistake to allow a decision of this magnitude to be made by one individual or a small group of elected officials.”
Republican women making a difference.
WINTERY KNIGHT 