(CNN) - A foolproof system for staving off terrorist attacks couldn't exist in an open democratic society, two lawmakers said Sunday.
Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Sen. Dan Coats, R-Indiana, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, agreed that while more robust intelligence-sharing should have taken place in the lead-up to the Boston Marathon bombings, the amount of surveillance required to protect fully against more violence could never exist in a democratic society.
FULL POST
(CNN) - Another senator raised concerns on Sunday about taking up the new bipartisan immigration reform bill following last week's terror attack in Boston. The two suspects - one of whom was killed in a shootout with police, the other is in federal custody - came to the country legally more than a decade ago.
Republican Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana said Sunday that Congress should wait until the emotional reaction to the violence subsides before tackling immigration legislation.
FULL POST
Washington (CNN) - Indiana Republican Dan Coats, a senator with experience as U.S. ambassador, questioned the timing of Mitt Romney's statement which slammed the Obama Administration for sympathizing with protests in Egypt instead of condemning them. He also questioned the timing of a statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Egypt.
"Making a knee jerk or quick political responses or knee jerk policy response – usually you have to amend that – so before we jump to too many conclusions and throw things out that aren't necessarily the best solution in the way they addressed the problem – let's assess all that," Coats told CNN in an interview Wednesday.
FULL POST
(CNN)-President Barack Obama advocated for his plan to ensure the federal government starts "living within its means," Saturday during the weekly address.
He made the case for a plan to battle the federal budget deficit that includes spending cuts and "examining every program and tax break in the budget."
FULL POST
Washington (CNN) – Indiana Senate hopeful Dan Coats went on the air Tuesday with his second television ad of the Republican primary season, the same day it was revealed he loaned his campaign $200,000.
With just one week remaining until primary day, the TV commercial targets the Obama administration's fiscal policies, which Coats says are "taking our country in the wrong direction."
"As a conservative, I fought against higher taxes and big spending," the former senator says in the ad. "President Obama is taking our country in the wrong direction – and I had to step up. Whether it's the big power grab they call health care, or the debt they're passing on to our kids, we need experienced conservative leaders who represent Hoosier values."
Coats, who served in the Senate between 1989 and 1999, is hoping to return to Washington, but faces fellow Republicans John Hostettler and Marlin Stutzman in the GOP primary.
Coats adviser Kevin Kellems told CNN Tuesday that the ad will air statewide, and is complemented by a sizable statewide radio buy.
Kellems also said that Coats loaned his campaign $200,000 on April 22, a move designed to "plug a temporary gap between pledges and receipts." The loan was first reported by the Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call.
Washington (CNN) – Dr. James Dobson, the influential evangelical and founder of Focus on the Family, is endorsing Republican Dan Coats in the race for Senate in Indiana, the Coats campaign said Monday.
"I have long respected former Senator Dan Coats for his integrity and his legislative influence in the Congress," Dobson said in a statement. "I also admire his personal commitment to his Christian faith in public life. Dan has been a consistent leader of pro-family causes and a stalwart defender of unborn children. If my wife Shirley and I were Hoosiers, we would definitely vote for Dan Coats in the May 4th primary."
In addition to the endorsement, Dobson cut a radio ad on Coats' behalf that is set to run starting on Tuesday.
Washington (CNN) - Dan Coats, the former Republican senator from Indiana trying to get his job back, is doing some old-fashioned saber-rattling as he fights his way through a crowded Republican primary.
Republican Dan Coats is seeking his former Indiana Senate seat.
In an interview with Human Events on Wednesday, Coats said the "only option" left to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons is the threat of military action.
Coats said most Americans agree that Iran must not be allowed to have such weapons, even though Iranian leaders continue to press forward with their nuclear program.
"And yet, no one has gone past that point and said 'If it's unacceptable, what are we going to do?,'" Coats said. "And now it seems we're being asked to accept the unacceptable."
"And the only option now is potential military action if we're going to stop this," he continued. "The unknown factor in all of this is the situation the Israelis are in, sitting there looking at the nation that's proclaiming it wants to eliminate that country from the face of the earth. And that's the kind of threat that I think America has not understood."
Washington (CNN) - Since Republican Dan Coats entered the Indiana Senate race earlier this month, Democrats have unleashed a torrent of opposition research against the former senator, making hay of lobbyist work and a video showing Coats calling North Carolina "a better place" than Indiana.
But before Coats can take on Democrat Evan Bayh this fall, the former senator must survive a Republican primary - and his two GOP opponents are now raising doubts about Coats' voting record while in the Senate.
His Republican rivals – former Rep. John Hostettler and state Sen. Marlin Stutzman – are calling attention to Coats' votes on judicial confirmations and gun control, while he served in the Senate from 1989 to 1999.
"I guess I would consider him a conservative, but there are votes that people are raising their eyebrows over and saying, 'Is this the conservative we are looking for?," Stutzman told CNN.
Stutzman said Coats cast several votes "against" the Second Amendment, including one in favor of a tough 1991 crime bill that banned several types of semi-automatic weapons. He was also one of seven Republicans to vote in favor of the so-called "Brady Bill" in 1993, which instituted background checks for firearm purchases.
Hostettler promised to highlight Coats' vote to confirm Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the Supreme Court in 1993 (even though only three senators opposed her nomination). Ginsburg replaced retiring conservative justice Byron White.
"Sen. Coats voted to replace one of the most legendary pro-life voices with probably the most pro abortion nominee ever presented to the Senate," Hostettler said. "You can't be voting to replace pro-life votes with pro-abortion votes."
Washington (CNN) – Democrats have been hounding former Sen. Dan Coats since he announced this week he will challenge Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, in this year's midterm election.
Coats served as U.S. ambassador to Germany in his post-Senate life, but he also worked as a lobbyist representing Wall Street banks, health insurance providers and pharmaceutical companies. Democrats also pointed out that Coats is actually registered to vote in Virginia, not the Hoosier state.
Now, hoping to paint Coats as even more out of touch with the people he hopes to represent, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is pushing a video in which Coats suggests he'd rather live in North Carolina than Indiana.
"If you don't tell the good people of Indiana, Marcia and I decided that there might be a better place where some of these older bones can absorb, so we have joined her parents in North Carolina," Coats says in the video, which was recorded during a speech he delivered to North Carolina delegates at the most recent Republican National Convention in St. Paul.
Coats and his wife bought a $1.8 million home in Wilmington, North Carolina in 2006, according to documents provided by the DSCC.
Washington (CNN) – Two well respected non-partisan political analysts have changed their ratings of this year's Senate race in Indiana, now that former Republican Sen. Dan Coats is taking the first steps towards challenging the incumbent, Democrat Evan Bayh.
Coats, who held the seat from 1989 to 1999, opened an exploratory committee Wednesday . Following that announcement The Cook Political Report moved it's characterization of the race from solid Democrat to lean Democrat. A solid rating means the contest is not considered competitive and not likely to become closely contested. A lean rating means the race is considered competitive but one party has an advantage.
The Rothenberg Political report also moved its ranking of the contest from currently safe to narrow advantage for the incumbent.
"Former Sen. Dan Coats' likely entry into the Indiana Senate race puts another seat into play for Republicans. Coats last served in the Senate a decade ago and Democrats are already attacking him for living in Virginia since then, but the Republican should be a credible alternative for voters who are dissatisfied with the direction of the country and the party in power," writes Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report.
Political analysts point out that Coats will need to quickly build a campaign structure to compete with Bayh, who had $13 million in the bank at the beginning of the year.
Rep. Coats was appointed senator in 1989, to replace Dan Quayle, who stepped down after his election as vice president. Coats won a special election in 1990 and election to a full term in 1992. He did not seek re-election in 1998. Bayh, Indiana's governor from 1987 to 1997, won the election to the senate in 1998 and grabbed 62 percent of the vote in his 2004 re-election.
The other Republicans, former Rep. John Hostettler and State Senator Marlin Stutzman, are also seeking the GOP Senate nomination.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
From CNN Politics
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Recent Comments