THE INTERESTED AMERICAN

600 Most Common Surnames in the USA

Smith: English: occupational name for a worker in metal, from Middle English smith (Old English smið, probably a derivative of smitan ‘to strike, hammer’). Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents were perhaps the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is the most frequent of all American surnames; it has also absorbed, by assimilation and translation, cognates and equivalents from many other languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).

Johnson: English and Scottish: patronymic from the personal name John. As an American family name, Johnson has absorbed patronymics and many other derivatives of this name in continental European languages.

Williams: English (also very common in Wales): patronymic from William.
Jones
Brown
Davis: Southern English: patronymic from David.
Miller
Wilson: English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from the personal name Will, a very common medieval short form of William.
Moore: English: from Middle English more ‘moor’, ‘marsh’, ‘fen’, ‘area of uncultivated land’ (Old English mor), hence a topographic name for someone who lived in such a place or a habitational name from any of the various places named with this word, as for example Moore in Cheshire or More in Shropshire.English: from Old French more ‘Moor’ (Latin maurus). The Latin term denoted a native of northwestern Africa, but in medieval England the word came to be used informally as a nickname for any swarthy or dark-skinned person.English: from a personal name (Latin Maurus ‘Moor’). This name was borne by various early Christian saints. The personal name was introduced to England by the Normans, but it was never as popular in England as it was on the Continent.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Mórdha ‘descendant of Mórdha’, a byname meaning ‘great’, ‘proud’, or ‘stately’.Scottish: see Muir.Welsh: from Welsh mawr ‘big’, applied as a nickname or distinguishing epithet.
Taylor: English and Scottish: occupational name for a tailor, from Old French tailleur (Late Latin taliator, from taliare ‘to cut’). The surname is extremely common in Britain and Ireland, and its numbers have been swelled by its adoption as an Americanized form of the numerous equivalent European names, most of which are also very common among Ashkenazic Jews, for example Schneider, Szabó, and Portnov.

Anderson: Scottish and northern English: very common patronymic from the personal name Ander(s), a northern Middle English form of Andrew. See also Andreas. The frequency of the surname in Scotland is attributable, at least in part, to the fact that St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, so the personal name has long enjoyed great popularity there. Legend has it that the saint’s relics were taken to Scotland in the 4th century by a certain St. Regulus. The surname was brought independently to North America by many different bearers and was particularly common among 18th-century Scotch-Irish settlers in PA and VA. In the United States, it has absorbed many cognate or like-sounding names in other European languages, notably Swedish Andersson, Norwegian and Danish Andersen, but also Ukrainian Andreychyn, Hungarian Andrásfi, etc.

Thomas: nglish, French, German, Dutch, Danish, and South Indian: from the medieval personal name, of Biblical origin, from Aramaic t’om’a, a byname meaning ‘twin’. It was borne by one of the disciples of Christ, best known for his scepticism about Christ’s resurrection (John 20:24–29). The th- spelling is organic, the initial letter of the name in the Greek New Testament being a theta. The English pronunciation as t rather than th- is the result of French influence from an early date. In Britain the surname is widely distributed throughout the country, but especially common in Wales and Cornwall. The Ukrainian form is Choma. HH, GT. ANCHOR NAME. Not Catalan - RS It is found as a personal name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. is used as a family name among families from southern India.

Jackson: English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from Jack 1. As an American surname this has absorbed other patronymics beginning with J- in various European languages.

White: English, Scottish, and Irish: from Middle English whit ‘white’, hence a nickname for someone with white hair or an unnaturally pale complexion. In some cases it represents a Middle English personal name, from an Old English byname, Hwit(a), of this origin. As a Scottish and Irish surname it has been widely used as a translation of the many Gaelic names based on bán ‘white’ (see Bain 1) or fionn ‘fair’ (see Finn 1). There has also been some confusion with Wight.Translated form of cognate and equivalent names in other languages, such as German Weiss, French Blanc, Polish Bialas (see Bialas), etc.

Harris: English and Welsh (very common in southern England and South Wales): patronymic from the medieval English personal name Harry, pet form of Henry.This name is also well established in Ireland, taken there principally during the Plantation of Ulster. In some cases, particularly in families coming from County Mayo, both Harris and Harrison can be Anglicized forms of Gaelic Ó hEarchadha.Greek: reduced form of the Greek personal name Kharalambos, composed of the elements khara ‘joy’ + lambein ‘to shine’.Jewish: Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish names.

Martin: English, Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, Czech, Slovak, Spanish (Martín), Italian (Venice), etc.: from a personal name (Latin Martinus, a derivative of Mars, genitive Martis, the Roman god of fertility and war, whose name may derive ultimately from a root mar ‘gleam’). This was borne by a famous 4th-century saint, Martin of Tours, and consequently became extremely popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. As a North American surname, this form has absorbed many cognates from other European forms.English: habitational name from any of several places so called, principally in Hampshire, Lincolnshire, and Worcestershire, named in Old English as ‘settlement by a lake’ (from mere or mær ‘pool’, ‘lake’ + tun ‘settlement’) or as ‘settlement by a boundary’ (from (ge)mære ‘boundary’ + tun ‘settlement’). The place name has been charged from Marton under the influence of the personal name Martin.

Thompson: English: patronymic from Thomas. Thompson is widely distributed throughout Britain, but is most common in northern England and northern Ireland.Americanized form of Thomsen.

Garcia: Spanish (García) and Portuguese: from a medieval personal name of uncertain origin. It is normally found in medieval records in the Latin form Garsea, and may well be of pre-Roman origin, perhaps akin to Basque (h)artz ‘bear’.

Martinez: Spanish (Martínez): patronymic from the personal name Martin.

Robinson: Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Robin.

Clark: English: occupational name for a scribe or secretary, originally a member of a minor religious order who undertook such duties. The word clerc denoted a member of a religious order, from Old English cler(e)c ‘priest’, reinforced by Old French clerc. Both are from Late Latin clericus, from Greek klerikos, a derivative of kleros ‘inheritance’, ‘legacy’, with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy) ‘whose inheritance was the Lord’. In medieval Christian Europe, clergy in minor orders were permitted to marry and so found families; thus the surname could become established. In the Middle Ages it was virtually only members of religious orders who learned to read and write, so that the term clerk came to denote any literate man.

Rodriguez: Spanish (Rodríguez) and Portuguese: patronymic from the personal name Rodrigo.

Lewis: English (but most common in Wales): from Lowis, Lodovicus, a Norman personal name composed of the Germanic elements hlod ‘fame’ + wig ‘war’. This was the name of the founder of the Frankish dynasty, recorded in Latin chronicles as Ludovicus and Chlodovechus (the latter form becoming Old French Clovis, Clouis, Louis, the former developing into German Ludwig). The name was popular throughout France in the Middle Ages and was introduced to England by the Normans. In Wales it became inextricably confused with 2.Welsh: from an Anglicized form of the personal name Llywelyn (see Llewellyn).Irish and Scottish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Lughaidh ‘son of Lughaidh’. This is one of the most common Old Irish personal names. It is derived from Lugh ‘brightness’, which was the name of a Celtic god.Americanized form of any of various like-sounding Jewish surnames.

Lee: English: topographic name for someone who lived near a meadow or a patch of arable land, Middle English lee, lea, from Old English lea, dative case (used after a preposition) of leah, which originally meant ‘wood’ or ‘glade’.English: habitational name from any of the many places named with Old English leah ‘wood’, ‘glade’, as for example Lee in Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire, Kent, and Shropshire, and Lea in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and Wiltshire.Irish: reduced Americanized form of Ó Laoidhigh ‘descendant of Laoidheach’, a personal name derived from laoidh ‘poem’, ‘song’ (originally a byname for a poet).Americanized spelling of Norwegian Li or Lie.Chinese : variant of Li 1.Chinese : variant of Li 2.Chinese : variant of Li 3.Korean: variant of Yi.

Walker: English (especially Yorkshire) and Scottish: occupational name for a fuller, Middle English walkere, Old English wealcere, an agent derivative of wealcan ‘to walk, tread’. This was the regular term for the occupation during the Middle Ages in western and northern England. Compare Fuller and Tucker. PWH As a Scottish surname it has also been used as a translation of Gaelic Mac an Fhucadair ‘son of the fuller’.

Hall: English, Scottish, Irish, German, and Scandinavian: from Middle English hall (Old English heall), Middle High German halle, Old Norse holl all meaning ‘hall’ (a spacious residence), hence a topographic name for someone who lived in or near a hall or an occupational name for a servant employed at a hall. In some cases it may be a habitational name from places named with this word, which in some parts of Germany and Austria in the Middle Ages also denoted a salt mine. The English name has been established in Ireland since the Middle Ages, and, according to MacLysaght, has become numerous in Ulster since the 17th century.

Allen: English and Scottish: from a Celtic personal name of great antiquity and obscurity. In England the personal name is now usually spelled Alan, the surname Allen; in Scotland the surname is more often Allan. Various suggestions have been put forward regarding its origin; the most plausible is that it originally meant ‘little rock’. Compare Gaelic ailín, diminutive of ail ‘rock’. The present-day frequency of the surname Allen in England and Ireland is partly accounted for by the popularity of the personal name among Breton followers of William the Conqueror, by whom it was imported first to Britain and then to Ireland. St. Alan(us) was a 5th-century bishop of Quimper, who was a cult figure in medieval Brittany. Another St. Al(l)an was a Cornish or Breton saint of the 6th century, to whom a church in Cornwall is dedicated.

Young: English, Scottish, and northern Irish: distinguishing name (Middle English yunge, yonge ‘young’), for the younger of two bearers of the same personal name, usually distinguishing a younger brother or a son. In Middle English this name is often found with the Anglo-Norman French definite article, for example Robert le Yunge.Americanization of a cognate, equivalent, or like-sounding surname in some other language, notably German Jung and Junk, Dutch (De) Jong(h) and Jong, and French Lejeune and LaJeunesse.assimilated form of French Dion or Guyon.Chinese: see Yang.

Hernandez: Spanish (Hernández) and Jewish (Sephardic): patronymic from the personal name Hernando (see Fernando). This surname also became established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.

King: English and Scottish: nickname from Middle English king, Old English cyning ‘king’ (originally merely a tribal leader, from Old English cyn(n) ‘tribe’, ‘race’ + the Germanic suffix -ing). The word was already used as a byname before the Norman Conquest, and the nickname was common in the Middle Ages, being used to refer to someone who conducted himself in a kingly manner, or one who had played the part of a king in a pageant, or one who had won the title in a tournament. In other cases it may actually have referred to someone who served in the king’s household. The American surname has absorbed several European cognates and equivalents with the same meaning, for example German König (see Koenig), Swiss German Küng, French Leroy. It is also found as an Ashkenazic Jewish surname, of ornamental origin.Chinese : variant of Jin 1.Chinese: see Jing.

Wright: English, Scottish, and northern Irish: occupational name for a maker of machinery, mostly in wood, of any of a wide range of kinds, from Old English wyrhta, wryhta ‘craftsman’ (a derivative of wyrcan ‘to work or make’). The term is found in various combinations (for example, Cartwright and Wainwright), but when used in isolation it generally referred to a builder of windmills or watermills. Common New England Americanized form of French Le Droit, a nickname for an upright person, a man of probity, from Old French droit ‘right’, in which there has been confusion between the homophones right and wright.
Lopez
Hill
Scott
Green
Adams
Baker
Gonzalez: Spanish (González): patronymic from the personal name Gonzalo, a personal name of Visigothic origin, based on the Germanic element gunþ ‘battle’. Compare Portuguese Gonçalves (see Goncalves).
Nelson
Carter
Mitchell
Perez
Roberts
Turner
Phillips
Campbell
Parker
Evans
Edwards
Collins: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Coileáin and Mac Coileáin (see Cullen 1).English: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Col(l)in, a pet form of Coll, itself a short form of Nicholas.Americanized form of French Colin.
Stewart: Scottish: originally an occupational name for an administrative official of an estate, from Middle English stiward, Old English stigweard, stiweard, a compound of stig ‘house(hold)’ + weard ‘guardian’. In Old English times this title was used of an officer controlling the domestic affairs of a household, especially of the royal household; after the Conquest it was also used more widely as the native equivalent of Seneschal for the steward of a manor or manager of an estate.
Sanchez: Spanish (Sánchez): patronymic from the personal name Sancho.
Rogers: English: patronymic from the personal name Roger.
Reed: English: variant spelling of Read 1.
Cook: English: occupational name for a cook, a seller of cooked meats, or a keeper of an eating house, from Old English coc (Latin coquus). There has been some confusion with Cocke.Irish and Scottish: usually identical in origin with the English name, but in some cases a reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Cúg ‘son of Hugo’ (see McCook).In North America Cook has absorbed examples of cognate and semantically equivalent names from other languages, such as German and Jewish Koch.Erroneous translation of French Lécuyer (see Lecuyer).
Morgan: Welsh: from the Old Welsh personal name Morcant, which is of uncertain but ancient etymology.Irish: importation of the Welsh surname, to which has been assimilated more than one Gaelic surname, notably Ó Muireagáin (see Merrigan).Scottish: of uncertain origin; probably from a Gaelic personal name cognate with Welsh Morcant.
Bell: Scottish and northern English: from Middle English belle ‘bell’, in various applications; most probably a metonymic occupational name for a bell ringer or bell maker, or a topographic name for someone living ‘at the bell’ (as attested by 14th-century forms such as John atte Belle). This indicates either residence by an actual bell (e.g. a town’s bell in a bell tower, centrally placed to summon meetings, sound the alarm, etc.) or ‘at the sign of the bell’, i.e. a house or inn sign (although surnames derived from house and inn signs are rare in Scots and English).Scottish and northern English: from the medieval personal name Bel. As a man’s name this is from Old French beu, bel ‘handsome’, which was also used as a nickname. As a female name it represents a short form of Isobel, a form of Elizabeth.Scottish: Americanized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Mhaoil ‘son of the servant of the devotee’ (see Mullen 1).Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.Norwegian: habitational name from a farmstead in western Norway named Bell, the origin of which is unexplained.Scandinavian: of English or German origin; in German as a habitational name for someone from Bell in Rhineland, Germany, or possibly from Belle in Westphalia.Americanized spelling of German Böhl or Böll (see Boehle, Boll).
Murphy: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Murchadha ‘descendant of Murchadh’, a personal name composed of the elements muir ‘sea’ + cath ‘battle’, i.e. ‘sea-warrior’. This was an important family in Tyrone.
Bailey: status name for a steward or official, Middle English bail(l)i (Old French baillis, from Late Latin baiulivus, an adjectival derivative of baiulus ‘attendant’, ‘carrier’ ‘porter’).topographic name for someone who lived by the outer wall of a castle, Middle English bail(l)y, baile ‘outer courtyard of a castle’, from Old French bail(le) ‘enclosure’, a derivative of bailer ‘to enclose’, a word of unknown origin. This term became a place name in its own right, denoting a district beside a fortification or wall, as in the case of the Old Bailey in London, which formed part of the early medieval outer wall of the city.habitational name from Bailey in Lancashire, named with Old English beg ‘berry’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.Anglicized form of French Bailly.
Rivera: Spanish: habitational name from any of the places named Rivera, a variant of Ribera.Italian: northern variant of the southern (especially Sicily) topographic name Ribera.Catalan: in some cases, variant of Catalan Ribera.
Cooper: English: occupational name for a maker and repairer of wooden vessels such as barrels, tubs, buckets, casks, and vats, from Middle English couper, cowper (apparently from Middle Dutch kuper, a derivative of kup ‘tub’, ‘container’, which was borrowed independently into English as coop). The prevalence of the surname, its cognates, and equivalents bears witness to the fact that this was one of the chief specialist trades in the Middle Ages throughout Europe. In America, the English name has absorbed some cases of like-sounding cognates and words with similar meaning in other European languages, for example Dutch Kuiper.Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of Kupfer and Kupper (see Kuper).Dutch: occupational name for a buyer or merchant, Middle Dutch coper.
Richardson: English: patronymic from the personal name Richard. This has undoubtedly also assimilated like-sounding cognates from other languages, such as Swedish Richardsson.
Cox: English: from Cocke in any the senses described + the suffix -s denoting ‘son of’ or ‘servant of’.Irish (Ulster): mistranslation of Mac Con Coille (‘son of Cú Choille’, a personal name meaning ‘hound of the wood’), as if formed with coileach ‘cock’, ‘rooster’.
Howard: English: from the Norman personal name Huard, Heward, composed of the Germanic elements hug ‘heart’, ‘mind’, ‘spirit’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.English: from the Anglo-Scandinavian personal name Haward, composed of the Old Norse elements há ‘high’ + varðr ‘guardian’, ‘warden’.English: variant of Ewart 2.Irish: see Fogarty.Irish (County Clare) surname adopted as an equivalent of Gaelic Ó hÍomhair, which was formerly Anglicized as O’Hure.
Ward
Torres
Peterson
Gray
Ramirez: Spanish (Ramírez): patronymic from the personal name Ramiro, composed of the Germanic elements ragin ‘counsel’ + mari, meri ‘fame’.
James: English: from a personal name that has the same origin as Jacob. However, among English speakers, it is now felt to be a separate name in its own right. This is largely because in the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611) the form James is used in the New Testament as the name of two of Christ’s apostles (James the brother of John and James the brother of Andrew), whereas in the Old Testament the brother of Esau is called Jacob. The form James comes from Latin Jacobus via Late Latin Jac(o)mus, which also gave rise to Jaime, the regular form of the name in Spanish (as opposed to the learned Jacobo). See also Jack and Jackman. This is a common surname throughout the British Isles, particularly in South Wales.
Watson
Brooks: English: from the possessive case of Brook (i.e. ‘of the brook’).Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.Americanized spelling of German Brucks.
Kelly
Sanders
Price
Bennett
Wood
Barnes
Ross: Scottish and English (of Norman origin): habitational name for someone from Rots near Caen in Normandy, probably named with the Germanic element rod ‘clearing’. Compare Rhodes. This was the original home of a family de Ros, who were established in Kent in 1130.Scottish and English: habitational name from any of various places called Ross or Roos(e), deriving the name from Welsh rhós ‘upland’ or moorland, or from a British ancestor of this word, which also had the sense ‘promontory’. This is the sense of the cognate Gaelic word ros. Known sources of the surname include Roos in Humberside (formerly in East Yorkshire) and the region of northern Scotland known as Ross.English and German: from the Germanic personal name Rozzo, a short form of the various compound names with the first element hrod ‘renown’, introduced into England by the Normans in the form Roce.German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a breeder or keeper of horses, from Middle High German ros, German Ross ‘horse’; perhaps also a nickname for someone thought to resemble a horse or a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a horse.Jewish: Americanized form of Rose 3.

Henderson: Scottish and northern Irish: patronymic from Hendry, a chiefly Scottish variant of the personal name Henry 1. Some Scottish families with this name have ancestors whose name was Henryson.

Coleman: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Colmáin ‘descendant of Colmán’. This was the name of an Irish missionary to Europe, generally known as St. Columban (c.540–615), who founded the monastery of Bobbio in northern Italy in 614. With his companion St. Gall, he enjoyed a considerable cult throughout central Europe, so that forms of his name were adopted as personal names in Italian (Columbano), French (Colombain), Czech (Kollman), and Hungarian (Kálmán). From all of these surnames are derived. In Irish and English, the name of this saint is identical with diminutives of the name of the 6th-century missionary known in English as St. Columba (521–97), who converted the Picts to Christianity, and who was known in Scandinavian languages as Kalman.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Clumháin ‘descendant of Clumhán’, a personal name from the diminutive of clúmh ‘down’, ‘feathers’.English: occupational name for a burner of charcoal or a gatherer of coal, Middle English coleman, from Old English col ‘(char)coal’ + mann ‘man’.English: occupational name for the servant of a man named Cole.Jewish (Ashkenazic): Americanized form of Kalman.Americanized form of German Kohlmann or Kuhlmann.

Jenkins: English: patronymic from Jenkin. Jenkins is one of the most common names in England, especially southwestern England, but is also especially associated with Wales.

Perry: Welsh: Anglicized form of Welsh ap Herry ‘son of Herry’, a variant of Harry (see Harris).English: topographic name for someone who lived near a pear tree, Middle English per(r)ie (Old English pyrige, a derivative of pere ‘pear’). This surname and a number of variants have been established in Ireland since the 17th century.

Powell: English (of Welsh origin): Anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel ‘son of Hywel’, a personal name meaning ‘eminent’ (see Howell).Irish: mainly of Welsh origin as in 1 above, but sometimes a surname adopted as equivalent of Gaelic Mac Giolla Phóil ‘son of the servant of St. Paul’ (see Guilfoyle).

Long: English and French: nickname for a tall person, from Old English lang, long, Old French long ‘long’, ‘tall’ (equivalent to Latin longus).Irish (Ulster (Armagh) and Munster): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Longáin (see Langan).Chinese : from the name of an official treasurer called Long, who lived during the reign of the model emperor Shun (2257–2205 bc). his descendants adopted this name as their surname. Additionally, a branch of the Liu clan (see Lau 1), descendants of Liu Lei, who supposedly had the ability to handle dragons, was granted the name Yu-Long (meaning roughly ‘resistor of dragons’) by the Xia emperor Kong Jia (1879–1849 bc). Some descendants later simplified Yu-Long to Long and adopted it as their surname.Chinese : there are two sources for this name. One was a place in the state of Lu in Shandong province during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc). The other source is the Xiongnu nationality, a non-Han Chinese people.Chinese : variant of Lang.Cambodian: unexplained.

Patterson: Scottish and northern English: patronymic from a pet form of Pate, a short form of Patrick.Irish: in Ulster of English or Scottish origin; in County Galway, a surname taken by bearers of Gaelic Ó Caisín ‘descendant of the little curly-headed one’ (from Gaelic casán), which is usually Anglicized as Cussane.

Hughes: English (also common in Wales): patronymic from the Middle English and Anglo-Norman French personal name Hugh.Welsh: variant of Howells.Irish and Scottish: variant Anglicization of Gaelic Mac Aodha (see McCoy).

Flores: Spanish: from the plural of flor ‘flower’.

Washington: English: habitational name from either of the places called Washington, in Tyne and Wear and West Sussex. The latter is from Old English Wassingatun ‘settlement (Old English tun) of the people of Wassa’, a personal name that is probably a short form of some compound name such as Waðsige, composed of the elements wað ‘hunt’ + sige ‘victory’. Washington in Tyne and Wear is from Old English Wassingtun ‘settlement associated with Wassa’.
Butler: English and Irish: from a word that originally denoted a wine steward, usually the chief servant of a medieval household, from Norman French butuiller (Old French bouteillier, Latin buticularius, from buticula ‘bottle’). In the large households of royalty and the most powerful nobility, the title came to denote an officer of high rank and responsibility, only nominally concerned with the supply of wine, if at all.Anglicized form of French Boutilier.Jewish (from Poland and Ukraine): occupational name for a bottle maker, from Yiddish butl ‘bottle’ + the agent suffix -er.

Simmons: English (southern): patronymic either from the personal name Simon (see Simon) or, as Reaney and Wilson suggest, from the medieval personal name Simund (composed of Old Norse sig ‘victory’ + mundr ‘protection’), which after the Norman Conquest was taken as an equivalent Simon, with the result that the two names became confused.

Foster: English: reduced form of Forster.English: nickname from Middle English foster ‘foster parent’ (Old English fostre, a derivative of fostrian ‘to nourish or rear’).Jewish: probably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, such as Forster.

Gonzales: Spanish (González): patronymic from the personal name Gonzalo, a personal name of Visigothic origin, based on the Germanic element gunþ ‘battle’. Compare Portuguese Gonçalves (see Goncalves).

Bryant: English (mainly southwestern England): variant of Bryan.

Alexander: cottish, English, German, Dutch; also found in many other cultures: from the personal name Alexander, classical Greek Alexandros, which probably originally meant ‘repulser of men (i.e. of the enemy)’, from alexein ‘to repel’ + andros, genitive of aner ‘man’. Its popularity in the Middle Ages was due mainly to the Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great (356–323 bc)—or rather to the hero of the mythical versions of his exploits that gained currency in the so-called Alexander Romances. The name was also borne by various early Christian saints, including a patriarch of Alexandria (adc.250–326), whose main achievement was condemning the Arian heresy. The Gaelic form of the personal name is Alasdair, which has given rise to a number of Scottish and Irish patronymic surnames, for example McAllister. Alexander is a common forename in Scotland, often representing an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name. In North America the form Alexander has absorbed many cases of cognate names from other languages, for example Spanish Alejandro, Italian Alessandro, Greek Alexandropoulos, Russian Aleksandr, etc. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.) It has also been adopted as a Jewish name.

Russell: English, Scottish, and Irish: from Rousel, a common Anglo-Norman French nickname for someone with red hair, a diminutive of Rouse with the hypocoristic suffix -el.Americanized spelling of German Rüssel, from a pet form of any of the various personal names formed with the Old High German element hrod ‘renown’.

Griffin: Welsh: from a medieval Latinized form, Griffinus, of the Welsh personal name Gruffudd (see Griffith).English: nickname for a fierce or dangerous person, from Middle English griffin ‘gryphon’ (from Latin gryphus, Greek gryps, of Assyrian origin).Irish: Anglicized (part translated) form of Gaelic Ó Gríobhtha ‘descendant of Gríobhtha’, a personal name from gríobh ‘gryphon’.

Diaz: Spanish (Díaz): patronymic from the medieval personal name Didacus (see Diego).

Hayes: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hAodha ‘descendant of Aodh’, a personal name meaning ‘fire’ (compare McCoy). In some cases, especially in County Wexford, the surname is of English origin (see below), having been taken to Ireland by the Normans.English: habitational name from any of various places, for example in Devon and Worcestershire, so called from the plural of Middle English hay ‘enclosure’ (see Hay 1), or a topographic name from the same word.English: habitational name from any of various places, for example in Dorset, Greater London (formerly in Kent and Middlesex), and Worcestershire, so called from Old English h?se ‘brushwood’, or a topographic name from the same word.English: patronymic from Hay 3.French: variant (plural) of Haye 3.Jewish (Ashkenazic): metronymic from Yiddish name Khaye ‘life’ + the Yiddish possessive suffix -s.

Myers: English (mainly Yorkshire): patronymic from Mayer 1, i.e. ‘son of the mayor’.English: patronymic from mire ‘physician’ (see Myer 1).Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Midhir, probably a variant of Ó Meidhir ‘mayor’ (see Mayer 1).

Ford

Hamilton

Graham
Sullivan
Wallace
Woods
Cole
West
Jordan
Owens
Reynolds
Fisher
Ellis
Harrison
Gibson
McDonald
Cruz
Marshall
Ortiz
Gomez
Murray
Freeman
Wells
Webb
Simpson
Stevens
Tucker
Porter
Hunter
Hicks
Crawford: Scottish, English, and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Lanarkshire (Scotland) and Dorset and Lancashire (England) called Crawford, named in Old English with crawe ‘crow’ + ford ‘ford’.English: variant of Crowfoot (see Crofoot).

Henry: English and French: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements haim, heim ‘home’ + ric ‘power’, ‘ruler’, introduced to England by the Normans in the form Henri. During the Middle Ages this name became enormously popular in England and was borne by eight kings. Continental forms of the personal name were equally popular throughout Europe (German Heinrich, French Henri, Italian Enrico and Arrigo, Czech Jindrich, etc.). As an American family name, the English form Henry has absorbed patronymics and many other derivatives of this ancient name in continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.) In the period in which the majority of English surnames were formed, a common English vernacular form of the name was Harry, hence the surnames Harris (southern) and Harrison (northern). Official documents of the period normally used the Latinized form Henricus. In medieval times, English Henry absorbed an originally distinct Old English personal name that had hagan ‘hawthorn’. Compare Hain 2 as its first element, and there has also been confusion with Amery.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hInnéirghe ‘descendant of Innéirghe’, a byname based on éirghe ‘arising’.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Éinrí or Mac Einri, patronymics from the personal names Éinrí, Einri, Irish forms of Henry. It is also found as a variant of McEnery.Jewish (American): Americanized form of various like-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish names.

Boyd: Scottish: habitational name from the island of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, the Gaelic name of which is Bód (genitive Bóid).

Mason: English and Scottish: occupational name for a stonemason, Middle English, Old French mas(s)on. Compare Machen. Stonemasonry was a hugely important craft in the Middle Ages.Italian (Veneto): from a short form of Masone.French: from a regional variant of maison ‘house’.

Morales: Spanish: topographic name from the plural of moral ‘mulberry tree’.

Kennedy: Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Ceannéidigh ‘descendant of Ceannéidigh’, a personal name derived from ceann ‘head’ + éidigh ‘ugly’.

Warren: English and Irish (of Norman origin): habitational name from La Varrenne in Seine-Maritime, France, named with a Gaulish element probably descriptive of alluvial land or sandy soil.English: topographic name for someone who lived by a game park, or an occupational name for someone employed in one, from Anglo-Norman French warrene or Middle English wareine ‘warren’, ‘piece of land for breeding game’.Irish: adopted as an Englsih form of Gaelic Ó Murnáin (see Murnane, Warner).
Dixon: Northern English: patronymic from the personal name Dick.

Ramos: Portugese and Spanish: habitational name from any of the towns called Ramos, in Portugal and Spain.Portuguese and Spanish: from the plural of ramo ‘branch’ (Latin ramus), a topographic name for someone who lived in a thickly wooded area.

Reyes: plural variant of Rey.Castilianized form of the Galician habitational name Reis.

Burns: Scottish and northern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream or streams, from the Middle English nominative plural or genitive singular of burn (see Bourne).Scottish: variant of Burnhouse, habitational name from a place named with burn ‘stream’ + house ‘house’.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Broin (see Byrne).Jewish (American): Americanized and shortened form of Bernstein.

Gordon

Shaw

Holmes

Rice
Robertson
Hunt
Black
Daniels
Palmer: English: from Middle English, Old French palmer, paumer (from palme, paume ‘palm tree’, Latin palma), a nickname for someone who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Such pilgrims generally brought back a palm branch as proof that they had actually made the journey, but there was a vigorous trade in false souvenirs, and the term also came to be applied to a cleric who sold indulgences.Swedish (Palmér): ornamental name formed with palm ‘palm tree’ + the suffix -ér, from Latin -erius ‘descendant of’.Irish: when not truly of English origin (see 1 above), a surname adopted by bearers of Gaelic Ó Maolfhoghmhair (see Milford) perhaps because they were from an ecclesiastical family.German: topographic name for someone living among pussy willows (see Palm 2). EXG EG deled former sense 4.German: from the personal name Palm (see Palm 3).
Mills
Nichols
Grant
Knight
Ferguson
Rose

Stone

Hawkins: English: patronymic from the Middle English personal name Hawkin, a diminutive of Hawk 1 with the Anglo-Norman French hypocoristic suffix -in.English: in the case of one family (see note below), this is a variant of Hawkinge, a habitational name from a place in Kent, so called from Old English Hafocing ‘hawk place’.Irish: sometimes used as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó hEacháin (see Haughn).

Dunn: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Duinn, Ó Doinn ‘descendant of Donn’, a byname meaning ‘brown-haired’ or ‘chieftain’.English: nickname for a man with dark hair or a swarthy complexion, from Middle English dunn ‘dark-colored’.Scottish: habitational name from Dun in Angus, named with Gaelic dùn ‘fort’.Scottish: nickname from Gaelic donn ‘brown’. Compare 1.

Perkins: English: patronymic from Perkin, also found throughout mid and south Wales.Dutch: patronymic from a pet form of Peer, a Dutch form of Peter.

Hudson: English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Hudde (see Hutt 1). This surname is particularly common in Yorkshire and is also well established in Ireland.

Spencer: English: occupational name for someone employed in the pantry of a great house or monastery, from Middle English spense ‘larder’ + the agent suffix -er.

Gardner: English: reduced form of Gardener.Probably a translated form of German Gärtner (see Gartner).

Stephens

Payne: English: variant spelling of Paine. This is also a well-established surname in Ireland.

Pierce: English, Welsh, and Irish: from the personal name Piers, the usual Norman vernacular form of Peter. In Wales this represents a patronymic ap Piers. In Ireland it represents a reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Piarais ‘son of Piaras’, a Gaelicized form of Piers.Americanized form of some similar-sounding Jewish surname.

Berry: Irish (Galway and Mayo): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Béara or Ó Beargha (see Barry 1).Scottish and northern Irish: variant spelling of Barrie.English: habitational name from any of several places named with Old English byrig, dative case of burh ‘fortified manor house’, ‘stronghold’, such as Berry in Devon or Bury in Cambridgeshire, Greater Manchester, Suffolk, and West Sussex.French: regional name for someone from Berry, a former province of central France, so named with Latin Boiriacum, apparently a derivative of a Gaulish personal name, Boirius or Barius. In North America, this name has alternated with Berrien.Swiss German: pet form of a Germanic personal name formed with Old High German bero ‘bear’ (see Baer).

Matthews: English: patronymic from Matthew. In North America, this form has assimilated numerous vernacular derivatives in other languages of Latin Mat(t)hias and Matthaeus.Irish (Ulster and County Louth): used as an Americanized form of McMahon.

Arnold: English and German: from a very widely used personal name of Germanic origin, composed of the elements arn ‘eagle’ + wald ‘rule’. In addition, it has probably absorbed various European cognates and their derivatives (for the forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).English: habitational name from either of the two places called Arnold (see Arnall).Jewish (Ashkenazic): adoption of the German personal name, at least in part on account of its resemblance to the Jewish name Aaron.

Wagner: German (also Wägner) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a carter or cartwright, from an agent derivative of Middle High German wagen ‘cart’, ‘wagon’, German Wagen. The German surname is also well established in Scandinavia, the Netherlands, eastern Europe, and elsewhere as well as in German-speaking countries.

Willis: English: patronymic from the personal name Will.

Ray: English (of Norman origin): nickname denoting someone who behaved in a regal fashion or who had earned the title in some contest of skill or by presiding over festivities, from Old French rey, roy ‘king’. Occasionally this was used as a personal name.English: nickname for a timid person, from Middle English ray ‘female roe deer’ or northern Middle English ray ‘roebuck’.English: variant of Rye (1 and 2).English: habitational name, a variant spelling of Wray.Scottish: reduced and altered form of McRae.French: from a noun derivative of Old French raier ‘to gush, stream, or pour’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived near a spring or rushing stream, or a habitational name from a place called Ray.Indian: variant of Rai.

Watkins: English (also frequent in Wales): patronymic from the personal name Watkin.

Olson: Americanized spelling of Swedish Olsson or Danish and Norwegian Olsen.

Carroll: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Cearbhaill or Ó Cearbhaill ‘son (or descendant) of Cearbhall’, a personal name of uncertain origin, perhaps from cearbh ‘hacking’ and hence a byname for a butcher or nickname for a fierce warrior.

Duncan: Scottish and Irish (of Scottish origin): from the Gaelic personal name Donnchadh, composed of the elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + a derivative of cath ‘battle’, Anglicized in Ireland as Donagh or Donaghue. Compare Donahue.Irish (Sligo): used as an Anglicized equivalent of Gaelic Ó Duinnchinn ‘descendant of Donncheann’, a byname composed of the elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + ceann ‘head’.

Snyder: Dutch: occupational name for a tailor, from an agent derivative of Middle Dutch sniden ‘to cut’.Americanized form of German Schneider.

Hart: English and North German: from a personal name or nickname meaning ‘stag’, Middle English hert, Middle Low German hërte, harte.German: variant spelling of Hardt 1 and 2.Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name or a nickname from German and Yiddish hart ‘hard’.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hAirt ‘descendant of Art’, a byname meaning ‘bear’, ‘hero’. The English name became established in Ireland in the 17th century.French: from an Old French word meaning ‘rope’, hence possibly a metonymic occupational name for a rope maker or a hangman.Dutch: nickname from Middle Dutch hart, hert ‘hard’, ‘strong’, ‘ruthless’, ‘unruly’.

Cunningham: Scottish: habitational name from a district in Ayrshire, first recorded in 1153 in the form Cunegan, a Celtic name of uncertain origin. The spellings in -ham, first recorded in 1180, and in -ynghame, first recorded in 1227, represent a gradual assimilation to the English place-name element -ingham.Irish: surname adopted from Scottish by bearers of Gaelic Ó Cuinneagáin ‘descendant of Cuinneagán’, a personal name from a double diminutive of the Old Irish personal name Conn meaning ‘leader’, ‘chief’.

Bradley: English: habitational name from any of the many places throughout England named Bradley, from Old English brad ‘broad’ + leah ‘woodland clearing’.Scottish: habitational name from Braidlie in Roxburghshire.Irish (Ulster): adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó Brolcháin.

Lane: English: topographic name for someone who lived in a lane, Middle English, Old English lane, originally a narrow way between fences or hedges, later used to denote any narrow pathway, including one between houses in a town.Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Laighin ‘descendant of Laighean’, a byname meaning ‘spear’, or ‘javelin’.Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Luain ‘descendant of Luan’, a byname meaning ‘warrior’.Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Liatháin (see Lehane).Southern French: variant of Laine.Possibly also a variant of Southern French Lande.

Andrews: English: patronymic from the personal name Andrew. This is the usual southern English patronymic form, also found in Wales; the Scottish and northern English form is Anderson. In North America this name has absorbed numerous cases of the various European cognates and their derivatives. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.

Ruiz: Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Ruy, a short form of Rodrigo.

Harper: English, Scottish, and Irish: occupational name for a player on the harp, from an agent derivative of Middle English, Middle Dutch harp ‘harp’. The harper was one of the most important figures of a medieval baronial hall, especially in Scotland and northern England, and the office of harper was sometimes hereditary. The Scottish surname is probably an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Chruiteir ‘son of the harper’ (from Gaelic cruit ‘harp’, ‘stringed instrument’). This surname has long been present in Ireland.

Fox: English: nickname from the animal, Middle English, Old English fox. It may have denoted a cunning individual or been given to someone with red hair or for some other anecdotal reason. This relatively common and readily understood surname seems to have absorbed some early examples of less transparent surnames derived from the Germanic personal names mentioned at Faulks and Foulks.Irish: part translation of Gaelic Mac an tSionnaigh ‘son of the fox’ (see Tinney).Jewish (American): translation of the Ashkenazic Jewish surname Fuchs.Americanized spelling of Focks, a North German patronymic from the personal name Fock (see Volk).Americanized spelling of Fochs, a North German variant of Fuchs, or in some cases no doubt a translation of Fuchs itself.

Riley: Irish: variant spelling of Reilly.English: habitational name from Ryley in Lancashire, so named from Old English ryge ‘rye’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’. There is a Riley with the same meaning in Devon, but it does not seem to have contributed to the surname, which is more common in northern England.

Armstrong: English (common in Northumberland and the Scottish Borders): Middle English nickname for someone who was strong in the arm.Irish: adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó Labhradha Tréan ‘strong O’Lavery’ or Mac Thréinfhir, literally ‘son of the strong man’, both from Ulster.
Carpenter: English: occupational name for a worker in wood, Norman French carpentier (from Late Latin carpentarius ‘cartwright’).Translation of German Zimmermann, French Charpentier, Italian Carpentieri, or cognates and equivalents in various other languages.
Weaver: English: occupational name, from an agent derivative of Middle English weven ‘to weave’ (Old English wefan).English: habitational name from a place on the Weaver river in Cheshire, now called Weaver Hall but recorded simply as Weuere in the 13th and 14th centuries. The river name is from Old English wefer(e) ‘winding stream’.Translated form of German Weber.
Greene: Irish: translation of Gaelic Ó hUainín ‘descendant of Uainín’ (see Honan 2).variant spelling of Green as an English name or as an Americanized form of name of similar meaning in some other European language.
Lawrence: English: from the Middle English and Old French personal name Lorens, Laurence (Latin Laurentius ‘man from Laurentum’, a place in Italy probably named from its laurels or bay trees). The name was borne by a saint who was martyred at Rome in the 3rd century ad; he enjoyed a considerable cult throughout Europe, with consequent popularity of the personal name (French Laurent, Italian, Spanish Lorenzo, Catalan Llorenç, Portuguese Lourenço, German Laurenz; Polish Wawrzyniec (assimilated to the Polish word wawrzyn ‘laurel’), etc.). The surname is also borne by Jews among whom it is presumably an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Ashkenazic surnames.
Elliott: English: from a Middle English personal name, Elyat, Elyt. This represents at least two Old English personal names which have fallen together: the male name A{dh}elgeat (composed of the elements a{dh}el ‘noble’ + Geat, a tribal name; see Jocelyn), and the female personal name A{dh}elg¯{dh} (composed of the elements a{dh}el ‘noble’ + g¯{dh} ‘battle’). The Middle English name seems also to have absorbed various other personal names of Old English or Continental Germanic origin, as for example Old English Ælfweald (see Ellwood).English: from a pet form of Ellis.Scottish: Anglicized form of the originally distinct Gaelic surname Elloch, Eloth, a topographic name from Gaelic eileach ‘dam’, ‘mound’, ‘bank’. Compare Eliot.
Chavez

Sims: English: patronymic from Sim.

Austin: English, French, and German: from the personal name Austin, a vernacular form of Latin Augustinus, a derivative of Augustus. This was an extremely common personal name in every part of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, owing its popularity chiefly to St. Augustine of Hippo (354–430), whose influence on Christianity is generally considered to be second only to that of St. Paul. Various religious orders came to be formed following rules named in his honor, including the ‘Austin canons’, established in the 11th century, and the ‘Austin friars’, a mendicant order dating from the 13th century. The popularity of the personal name in England was further increased by the fact that it was borne by St. Augustine of Canterbury (died c. 605), an Italian Benedictine monk known as ‘the Apostle of the English’, who brought Christianity to England in 597 and founded the see of Canterbury.German: from a reduced form of the personal name Augustin.
Peters: English, Scottish, Dutch, and North German: patronymic from the personal name Peter.Irish: Anglicized form (translation) of Gaelic Mac Pheadair ‘son of Peter’.Americanized form of cognate surnames in other languages, for example Dutch and North German Pieters.
Kelley: Irish, Scottish, and English: variant spelling of Kelly.
Franklin: English: status name from Middle English frankelin ‘franklin’, a technical term of the feudal system, from Anglo-Norman French franc ‘free’ (see Frank 2) + the Germanic suffix -ling. The status of the franklin varied somewhat according to time and place in medieval England; in general, he was a free man and a holder of fairly extensive areas of land, a gentleman ranked above the main body of minor freeholders but below a knight or a member of the nobility.The surname is also borne by Jews, in which case it represents an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.In modern times, this has been used to Americanize François, the French form of Francis.
Lawson
Fields: English: topographic name from Middle English feldes, plural or possessive of feld ‘open country’. This name is also found as a translation of equivalent names in other languages, in particular French Deschamps, Duchamp.

Gutierrez: Spanish (Gutiérrez): patronymic from the medieval personal name Gutierre, from a Visigothic personal name of uncertain form and meaning, perhaps a compound of the elements gunþi ‘battle’ + hairus ‘sword’.

Ryan: Irish: simplified form of Mulryan.Irish: reduced form of O’Ryan, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Riagháin (modern Irish Ó Riain) ‘descendant of Rian’; Ó Maoilriain ‘descendant of Maoilriaghain’, or Ó Ruaidhín ‘descendant of the little red one’. Ryan is one of the commonest surnames in Ireland; there has been considerable confusion with Regan.Americanized spelling of German Rein.

Schmidt: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name from Middle High German smit, German Schmied ‘blacksmith’. The German surname is found in many other parts of Europe, from Slovenia to Sweden.
Carr: Northern English and Scottish: variant of Kerr.Irish (Ulster): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Carra ‘descendant of Carra’, a byname meaning ‘spear’.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Chathair, a Donegal name meaning ‘son of the servant of Cathair’.
Vasquez: Galician and possibly also Spanish: patronymic from the personal name Vasco, reduced form of Spanish Velásquez (see Velasquez).
Castillo: Spanish: from castillo ‘castle’, ‘fortified building’ (Latin castellum), a habitational name from any of numerous places so named or named with this word.

Wheeler: English: occupational name for a maker of wheels (for vehicles or for use in spinning or various other manufacturing processes), from an agent derivative of Middle English whele ‘wheel’. The name is particularly common on the Isle of Wight; on the mainland it is concentrated in the neighboring region of central southern England.

Chapman: English: occupational name for a merchant or trader, Middle English chapman, Old English ceapmann, a compound of ceap ‘barter’, ‘bargain’, ‘price’, ‘property’ + mann ‘man’.

Oliver: English, Scottish, Welsh, and German: from the Old French personal name Olivier, which was taken to England by the Normans from France. It was popular throughout Europe in the Middle Ages as having been borne by one of Charlemagne’s paladins, the faithful friend of Roland, about whose exploits there were many popular romances. The name ostensibly means ‘olive tree’ (see Oliveira), but this is almost certainly the result of folk etymology working on an unidentified Germanic personal name, perhaps a cognate of Alvaro. The surname is also borne by Jews, apparently as an adoption of the non-Jewish surname.Catalan and southern French (Occitan): generally a topographic name from oliver ‘olive tree’, but in some instances possibly related to the homonymous personal name (see 1 above).

Montgomery: English, Scottish, and northern Irish (of Norman origin): habitational name from a place in Calvados, France, so named from Old French mont ‘hill’ + a Germanic personal name composed of the elements guma ‘man’ + ric ‘power’. In Ireland this surname has been Gaelicized as Mac Iomaire and in Scotland as Mac Gumaraid.

Richards: English and German: patronymic from the personal name Richard. Richards is a frequent name in Wales.

Williamson: Northern English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from William.

Johnston: habitational name, deriving in most cases from the place so called in Annandale, in Dumfriesshire. This is derived from the genitive case of the personal name John + Middle English tone, toun ‘settlement’ (Old English tun). There are other places in Scotland so called, including the city of Perth, which used to be known as St. John’s Toun, and some of these may also be sources of the surname.variant of Johnson (see John), with intrusive -t-.

Banks: English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived on the slope of a hillside or by a riverbank, from northern Middle English banke (from Old Danish banke). The final -s may occasionally represent a plural form, but it is most commonly an arbitrary addition made after the main period of surname formation, perhaps under the influence of patronymic forms with a possessive -s.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Bruacháin ‘descendant of Bruachán’, a byname for a large-bellied person. The English form was chosen because of a mistaken association of the Gaelic name with bruach ‘bank’.

Meyer: German and Dutch: from Middle High German meier, a status name for a steward, bailiff, or overseer, which later came to be used also to denote a tenant farmer, which is normally the sense in the many compound surnames formed with this term as a second element. Originally it denoted a village headman (ultimately from Latin maior ‘greater’, ‘superior’).Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish personal name Meyer (from Hebrew Meir ‘enlightener’, a derivative of Hebrew or ‘light’).Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Meidhir, from meidhir ‘mirth’.Danish: variant spelling of Meier 3.

Bishop: English: from Middle English biscop, Old English bisc(e)op ‘bishop’, which comes via Latin from Greek episkopos ‘overseer’. The Greek word was adopted early in the Christian era as a title for an overseer of a local community of Christians, and has yielded cognates in every European language: French évêque, Italian vescovo, Spanish obispo, Russian yepiskop, German Bischof, etc. The English surname has probably absorbed at least some of these continental European cognates. The word came to be applied as a surname for a variety of reasons, among them service in the household of a bishop, supposed resemblance in bearing or appearance to a bishop, and selection as the ‘boy bishop’ on St. Nicholas’s Day.

McCoy: Irish (Limerick): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’, an ancient personal name meaning ‘fire’, originally the name of a pagan god. Thus it has the same origin as McGee, McKay and McKee.

Howell: Welsh: from the personal name Hywel ‘eminent’, popular since the Middle Ages in particular in honor of the great 10th-century law-giving Welsh king.English: habitational name from Howell in Lincolnshire, so named from an Old English hugol ‘mound’, ‘hillock’ or hune ‘hoarhound’.

Alvarez: Spanish (Álvarez): from a patronymic form of the personal name Álvaro (see Alvaro).

Morrison: Scottish: patronymic from the personal name Morris.

Hansen: Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, and North German: patronymic from the personal name Hans.

Fernandez: Spanish (Fernández): patronymic from the personal name Fernando. The surname (and to a lesser extent the variant Hernandez) has also been established in southern Italy, mainly in Naples and Palermo, since the period of Spanish dominance there, and as a result of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal at the end of the 15th century, many of whom moved to Italy.
Garza
Harvey

Little: English: nickname for a small man, or distinguishing epithet for the younger of two bearers of the same personal name, from Middle English littel, Old English l¯tel, originally a diminutive of l¯t (see Light 3).Irish: translation of Gaelic Ó Beagáin ‘descendant of Beagán’ (see Begin).Translation of French Petit and Lepetit; also used as an English form of names such as Jean-Petit ‘little John’.Translation of any of various other European name meaning ‘little’.

Burton: English: habitational name from a place name that is very common in central and northern England. The derivation in most cases is from Old English burh ‘fort’ (see Burke) + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.

Stanley: English: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Derbyshire, County Durham, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire, and West Yorkshire, so named from Old English stan ‘stone’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.Americanized form of any of various like-sounding names in other European languages, for example Polish Stanislawski and Greek Anastasiou.

Nguyen: Vietnamese (Nguy[ecirctilde]n): unexplained. This was the family name of a major Vietnamese royal dynasty.

George: English, Welsh, French, South Indian, etc.: from the personal name George, Greek Georgios, from an adjectival form, georgios ‘rustic’, of georgos ‘farmer’. This became established as a personal name in classical times through its association with the fashion for pastoral poetry. Its popularity in western Europe increased at the time of the Crusades, which brought greater contact with the Orthodox Church, in which several saints and martyrs of this name are venerated, in particular a saint believed to have been martyred at Nicomedia in ad 303, who, however, is at best a shadowy figure historically. Nevertheless, by the end of the Middle Ages St. George had become associated with an unhistorical legend of dragon-slaying exploits, which caught the popular imagination throughout Europe, and he came to be considered the patron saint of England among other places. HH, pwh As an American family name, this has absorbed cognates from other European languages, including German Georg and Greek patronymics such as Georgiou, Georgiadis, Georgopoulos, and the status name Papageorgiou ‘priest George’. In English-speaking countries, this surname is also found as an Anglicized form of Greek surnames such as Hatzigeorgiou ‘George the Pilgrim’ and patronymics such as Giorgopoulos ‘son of George’. JK, NN It is used as a given name among Christians in India, and in the U.S. has come to be used as a surname among families from southern India.

Jacobs:

Reid: nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion, from Older Scots reid ‘red’.topographic name for someone who lived in a clearing, from Old English r¯d ‘woodland clearing’. Compare English Read.

Kim: Korean: there is one Chinese character for the surname Kim. Kim is the most common Korean surname, comprising about 20 percent of the Korean population. According to some sources, there are over 600 different Kim clans, but only about 100 have been documented. Kims can be found in virtually every part of Korea. The two largest Kim clans, the Kim family of Kimhae and the Kim family of Kyongju, are descended from semi-mythological characters who lived two thousand years ago. According to legend, the Kimhae Kim family founder, Kim Suro, came in answer to a prayer offered by the nine elders of the ancient Karak Kingdom. In 42 ad, these elders met together to pray for a king. In answer to their prayer, they were sent a golden box containing six golden eggs. From the first egg emerged King Su-ro, Karak’s first king. The other five eggs became the five kings of Karak’s neighboring kingdom, Kaya. The founder of the Kim family of Kyongju, Kim Al-ji, had similar origins. In 65 ad the king of Shilla, T’alhae, heard a strange sound from a forest near the Shilla capital, Kyongju. On investigation he found a crowing white rooster standing next to a golden egg. From this egg emerged Al-ji, founder of the Kyongju Kim family and subsequent king of the Shilla Kingdom. Because Al-ji emerged from a golden egg, King T’alhae bestowed upon the child the surname Kim, which means ‘gold’. It is estimated that about half of the one hundred or so Kim clans of modern Korea are descended from the Kyongju Kim clan.Swiss German: unexplained.

Fuller: English: occupational name for a dresser of cloth, Old English fullere (from Latin fullo, with the addition of the English agent suffix). The Middle English successor of this word had also been reinforced by Old French fouleor, foleur, of similar origin. The work of the fuller was to scour and thicken the raw cloth by beating and trampling it in water. This surname is found mostly in southeast England and East Anglia. See also Tucker and Walker.In a few cases the name may be of German origin with the same form and meaning as 1 (from Latin fullare).Americanized version of French Fournier.

Lynch: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Loingsigh ‘descendant of Loingseach’, a personal name meaning ‘mariner’ (from long ‘ship’). This is now a common surname in Ireland but of different local origins, for example chieftain families in counties Antrim and Tipperary, while in Ulster and Connacht there were families called Ó Loingseacháin who later shortened their name to Ó Loingsigh and also Anglicized it as Lynch.Irish (Anglo-Norman): Anglicized form of Gaelic Linseach, itself a Gaelicized form of Anglo-Norman French de Lench, the version found in old records. This seems to be a local name, but its origin is unknown. One family of bearers of this name was of Norman origin, but became one of the most important tribes of Galway.English: topographic name for someone who lived on a slope or hillside, Old English hlinc, or perhaps a habitational name from Lynch in Dorset or Somerset or Linch in Sussex, all named with this word.

Dean: English: topographic name from Middle English dene ‘valley’ (Old English denu), or a habitational name from any of several places in various parts of England named Dean, Deane, or Deen from this word. In Scotland this is a habitational name from Den in Aberdeenshire or Dean in Ayrshire.English: occupational name for the servant of a dean or nickname for someone thought to resemble a dean. A dean was an ecclesiastical official who was the head of a chapter of canons in a cathedral. The Middle English word deen is a borrowing of Old French d(e)ien, from Latin decanus (originally a leader of ten men, from decem ‘ten’), and thus is a cognate of Deacon.Irish: variant of Deane.Italian: occupational name cognate with 2, from Venetian dean ‘dean’, a dialect form of degan, from degano (Italian decano).

Gilbert

Garrett

Romero

Welch: English: ethnic name for someone of Welsh origin. This is the usual form of the surname in England; the usual form in Ireland is Walsh and in Scotland Welsh. German: variant of Welk. Perhaps an Americanized spelling of German Welsch.
Larson
Frazier
Burke
Hanson
Day

Mendoza: Basque: habitational name from several places in the provinces of Arava and Biscay called Mendoza, named with Basque mendi ‘mountain’ + otz ‘cold’ + the definite article -a.

Moreno: Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish (Sephardic): nickname for someone with dark hair and a swarthy complexion, from Spanish and Portuguese moreno ‘dark-haired’, a word of uncertain origin, probably from Late Latin maurinus, a derivative of classical Latin Maurus ‘Moor’. Compare Moore 2.

Bowman: English and Scottish: occupational name for an archer, Middle English bow(e)man, bouman (from Old English boga ‘bow’ + mann ‘man’). This word was distinguished from Bowyer, which denoted a maker or seller of the articles. It is possible that in some cases the surname referred originally to someone who untangled wool with a bow. This process, which originated in Italy, became quite common in England in the 13th century. The vibrating string of a bow was worked into a pile of tangled wool, where its rapid vibrations separated the fibers, while still leaving them sufficiently entwined to produce a fine, soft yarn when spun.Americanized form of German Baumann (see Bauer) or the Dutch cognate Bouman.
Medina
Fowler: English: occupational name for a bird-catcher (a common medieval occupation), Middle English fogelere, foulere (Old English fugelere, a derivative of fugol ‘bird’).
Brewer
Hoffman: English: patronymic from Hopkin. The surname is widespread throughout southern and central England, but is at its most common in South Wales.Irish (County Longford and western Ireland): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Oibicín, itself a Gaelicized form of an Anglo-Norman name. In other parts of the country this name is generally of English origin.
Carlson
Silva: Portuguese, Galician, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of the many places called Silva, or a topographic name from silva ‘thicket’, ‘bramble’.
Pearson
Holland
Douglas
Fleming

Jensen: Danish, Norwegian, and North German: patronymic from the personal name Jens, a reduced form of Johannes (see John). This is Denmark’s most frequent surname.
Vargas
Byrd
Davidson
Hopkins: English: patronymic from Hopkin. The surname is widespread throughout southern and central England, but is at its most common in South Wales.Irish (County Longford and western Ireland): Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Oibicín, itself a Gaelicized form of an Anglo-Norman name. In other parts of the country this name is generally of English origin.
May
Terry
Herrera
Wade
Soto
Walters
Curtis
Neal
Caldwell
Lowe
Jennings
Barnett
Graves
Jimenez
Horton
Shelton
Barrett
O'Brien
Castro
Sutton
Gregory
McKinney
Lucas
Miles
Craig
Rodriquez
Chambers
Holt
Lambert
Fletcher
Watts
Bates
Hale
Rhodes
Pena
Beck: English: topographic name for someone who lived beside a stream, from northern Middle English bekke ‘stream’ (Old Norse bekkr).English (of Norman origin): habitational name from any of various places in northern France, for example Bec Hellouin in Eure, named with Old Norman French bec ‘stream’, from the same Old Norse root as in 1.English: probably a nickname for someone with a prominent nose, from Middle English beke ‘beak (of a bird)’ (Old French bec).English: metonymic occupational name for a maker, seller, or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from Old English becca. In some cases the name may represent a survival of an Old English byname derived from this word.German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker, a cognate of Baker, from (older) South German beck, West Yiddish bek. Some Jewish bearers of the name claim that it is an acronym of Hebrew ben-kedoshim ‘son of martyrs’, i.e. a name taken by one whose parents had been martyred for being Jews.North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a stream, from Low German Beke ‘stream’. Compare the High German form Bach 1.Scandinavian: habitational name for someone from a farmstead named Bekk, Bæk, or Bäck, or a topographic name for someone who lived by a stream.
Newman: English: nickname for a newcomer to a place, from Middle English newe ‘new’ + man ‘man’. This form has also absorbed several European cognates with the same meaning, for example Neumann. (For other forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.
Haynes: English (Shropshire): from the Welsh personal name Einws, a diminutive of Einion (of uncertain origin, popularly associated with einion ‘anvil’).English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Hain 2.English: habitational name from Haynes in Bedfordshire. This name first appears in Domesday Book as Hagenes, which Mills derives from the plural of Old English hægen, hagen ‘enclosure’.Irish: variant of Hines.
McDaniel: Altered form of Irish McDonnell ‘son of Donal’, from an incorrect association of the Gaelic patronymic with the personal name Daniel.
Mendez: Galician (Méndez): patronymic from the personal name Mendo (see Mendes, of which this is the Galician equivalent).
Bush: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a bushy area or thicket, from Middle English bush(e) ‘bush’ (probably from Old Norse buskr, or an unrecorded Old English busc); alternatively, it may derive from Old Norse Buski used as a personal name.Americanized spelling of German Busch.

Vaughn: Welsh: variant spelling of Vaughan.

Parks: English: patronymic from Park 2.

Dawson: English: patronymic from Daw 1.

Santiago: Galician, Portuguese, and Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named for the dedication of their churches to St. James (Sant Iago). The apostle St. James the Greater is the patron saint of Spain; there is a medieval legend that, after the death of Christ, he did not meet a speedy end under Herod Agrippa, but visited and evangelized the Iberian peninsula. His alleged burial site at Compostela has been a place of pilgrimage from all over Europe for over a thousand years.

Norris: regional name for someone who had migrated from the North (i.e. further north in England, or from Scotland or Scandinavia), from Old French nor(r)eis ‘northerner’.topographic name for someone who lived in a house on the north side of a settlement or estate, from Middle English north ‘north’ + hous ‘house’.occupational name for a wet-nurse or foster mother, from Old French nurice, norrice (Latin nutrix, genitive nutricis).

Hardy: English, Scottish, and French: nickname for a brave or foolhardy man, from Old French, Middle English hardi ‘bold’, ‘courageous’ (of Germanic origin; compare Hard 1).Irish: in addition to being an importation of the English name, this is also found as an Anglicized form (by partial translation) of Gaelic Mac Giolla Deacair ‘son of the hard lad’.Scottish: variant spelling of Hardie 2.

Love: English: from a Middle English personal name derived from the Old English female personal name Lufu ‘love’, or the masculine equivalent Lufa. Compare Leaf 2.English and Scottish: nickname from Anglo-Norman French lo(u)ve ‘female wolf’ (a feminine form of lou). This nickname was fairly commonly used for men, in an approving sense. No doubt it was reinforced by crossing with post-Conquest survivals of the masculine version of 1.Scottish: see McKinnon.Dutch (de Love): respelling and reinterpretation of Delhove, a habitational name from Hove and L’Hoves in Hainault, for example.

Steele: English and Scottish: from Middle English stele ‘steel’, hence a nickname for someone considered as hard and durable as steel, or metonymic occupational name for a foundry worker.

Curry: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Comhraidhe, ‘descendant of Comhraidhe’, a personal name of uncertain meaning.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Corra (see Corr).Scottish and northern English: variant of Currie.

Powers: English: variant of Power.

Schultz: German: status name for a village headman, from a contracted form of Middle High German schultheize. The term originally denoted a man responsible for collecting dues and paying them to the lord of the manor; it is a compound of sculd(a) ‘debt’, ‘due’ + a derivative of heiz(z)an ‘to command’. The surname is also established in Scandinavia.Jewish (Ashkenazic): from German Schulze (see 1 above). The reason for adoption are uncertain, but may perhaps have referred to a rabbi, seen as the head of a Jewish community, or to a trustee of a synagogue.

Barker: English: occupational name for a tanner of leather, from Middle English bark(en) ‘to tan’, tree bark having been used as the tanning agent.English: occupational name for a shepherd, Anglo-Norman French bercher (Late Latin berbicarius, from berbex ‘ram’, genitive berbicis). With the change of -ar- to -er- in Middle English, this became indistinguishable from the preceding name.Altered spelling of German Barger or Berger.

Guzman: Spanish (Guzmán): of uncertain and disputed etymology, probably from a Germanic personal name.Jewish (eastern Ashkenazic): variant of Gusman.

Page: English, Scottish, and French: status name for a young servant, Middle English and Old French page (from Italian paggio, ultimately from Greek paidion, diminutive of pais ‘boy’, ‘child’). The surname is also common in Ireland (especially Ulster and eastern Galway), having been established there since the 16th century.North German: metonymic occupational name for a horse dealer, from Middle Low German page ‘horse’.(Pagé): North American form of French Paget.

Munoz: Spanish (Muñoz): patronymic from the old personal name Muño.

Ball: English: nickname for a short, fat person, from Middle English bal(le) ‘ball’ (Old English ball, Old Norse b{o,}llr).English: topographic name for someone who lived on or by a knoll or rounded hill, from the same Middle English word, bal(le), used in this sense.English: from the Old Norse personal name Balle, derived either from ballr ‘dangerous’ or b{o,}llr ‘ball’.South German: from Middle High German bal ‘ball’, possibly applied as a metonymic occupational name for a juggler, or a habitational name from a place so named in the Rhine area.Dutch and German: short form of any of various Germanic personal names formed with the element bald (see Bald).

Keller: German: from Middle High German kellaere ‘cellarman’, ‘cellar master’ (Latin cellarius, denoting the keeper of the cella ‘store chamber’, ‘pantry’). Hence an occupational name for the overseer of the stores, accounts, or household in general in, for example, a monastery or castle. Kellers were important as trusted stewards in a great household, and in some cases were promoted to ministerial rank. The surname is widespread throughout central Europe.English: either an occupational name for a maker of caps or cauls, from Middle English kellere, or an occupational name for an executioner, from Old English cwellere.Irish: reduced form of Kelleher.Scottish: variant of Keillor.

Chandler: English: occupational name for a maker and seller of candles, from Middle English cha(u)ndeler (Old French chandelier, Late Latin candelarius, a derivative of candela ‘candle’). While a medieval chandler no doubt made and sold other articles beside candles, the extended sense of modern English chandler does not occur until the 16th century. The name may also, more rarely, have denoted someone who was responsible for the lighting arrangements in a large house, or else one who owed rent in the form of wax or candles.

Weber: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a weaver, Middle High German wëber, German Weber, an agent derivative of weben ‘to weave’. JXE, AB This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe, being found for example as a Czech, Polish, Slovenian, and Hungarian name.

Leonard: English and French (Léonard): from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements leo ‘lion’ (a late addition to the vocabulary of Germanic name elements, taken from Latin) + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’, which was taken to England by the Normans. A saint of this name, who is supposed to have lived in the 6th century, but about whom nothing is known except for a largely fictional life dating from half a millennium later, was popular throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages and was regarded as the patron of peasants and horses.Irish (Fermanagh): adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Mac Giolla Fhionáin or of Langan.Americanized form of Italian Leonardo or cognate forms in other European languages.

Walsh: Irish: Anglicized form (translation) of Breathnach ‘Briton’. It was used in particular to denote the Welshmen who arrived in Ireland in the wake of Strongbow’s Anglo-Norman invasion of 1170.

Lyons: English: variant of Lyon 3.Irish: variant of Lyon 4.

Ramsey: Scottish: habitational name from a place in Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), so called from Old English hramsa ‘wild garlic’ + eg ‘island’, ‘low-lying land’. There are other places in England called Ramsey, but the one in Huntingdonshire is almost certainly the source of the surname. The usual spelling of the surname in Scotland is Ramsay.

Wolfe: Irish, English, and German: variant spelling of Wolf.

Schneider: German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a tailor, literally ‘cutter’, from Middle High German snider, German Schneider, Yiddish shnayder. The same term was sometimes used to denote a woodcutter. JXE, AB This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.

Mullins

Benson

Sharp

Bowen

Daniel

Barber

Cummings: Irish: variant of Cumming, with the addition of English patronymic -s.

Hines: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hEidhin ‘descendant of Eidhin’, a personal name or byname of uncertain origin. It may be a derivative of eidhean ‘ivy’, or it may represent an altered form of the place name Aidhne. The principal family of this name is descended from Guaire of Aidhne, King of Connacht. From the 7th century for over a thousand years they were chiefs of a territory in County Galway.English: patronymic from Hine.Americanized spelling of German Heins or Heinz.

Baldwin

Griffith

Valdez

Hubbard

Salazar

Reeves: patronymic from Reeve.topographic name for someone who lived on the margin of a wood, from a misdivision of the Middle English phrase atter eves ‘at the edge’ (Old English æt þære efese).
Warner: English (of Norman origin) and North German: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements war(in) ‘guard’ + heri, hari ‘army’. The name was introduced into England by the Normans in the form Warnier.English (of Norman origin): reduced form of Warrener (see Warren 2).Irish (Cork): Anglicization of Gaelic Ó Murnáin (see Murnane), found in medieval records as Iwarrynane, from a genitive or plural form of the name, in which m is lenited.
Stevenson: Scottish and northern English: patronymic from the personal name Steven. As a North American surname, it has assimilated some European cognates such as Stefan and Steffen and their derivatives.
Burgess: English and Scottish: status name from Middle English burge(i)s, Old French burgeis ‘inhabitant and (usually) freeman of a (fortified) town’ (see Burke), especially one with municipal rights and duties. Burgesses generally had tenure of land or buildings from a landlord by burgage. In medieval England burgage involved the payment of a fixed money rent (as opposed to payment in kind); in Scotland it involved payment in service, guarding the town. The -eis ending is from Latin -ensis (modern English -ese as in Portuguese). Compare Burger.
Santos: from a personal name, byname, or nickname, dos Santos (from Spanish Todos los Santos ‘All Saints’, Portuguese Todos os santos), typically bestowed on a child born on All Saints’ Day.in many cases, a habitational name from any of the places named Santos, from the dedication of a local church or shrine to all the saints. This is a very common Portuguese surname.
Tate: English: from the Old English personal name Tata, possibly a short form of various compound names with the obscure first element tat, or else a nursery formation. This surname is common and widespread in Britain; the chief area of concentration is northeastern England, followed by northern Ireland.
Cross: English: topographic name for someone who lived near a stone cross set up by the roadside or in a marketplace, from Old Norse kross (via Gaelic from Latin crux, genitive crucis), which in Middle English quickly and comprehensively displaced the Old English form cruc (see Crouch). In a few cases the surname may have been given originally to someone who lived by a crossroads, but this sense of the word seems to have been a comparatively late development. In other cases, the surname (and its European cognates) may have denoted someone who carried the cross in processions of the Christian Church, but in English at least the usual word for this sense was Crozier.Irish: reduced form of McCrossen.In North America this name has absorbed examples of cognate names from other languages, such as French Lacroix.
Garner: English: from Anglo-Norman French gerner ‘granary’ (Old French grenier, from Late Latin granarium, a derivative of granum ‘grain’). It may have been a topographic name for someone who lived near a barn or granary, or a metonymic occupational name for someone in charge of the stores kept in a granary.English: variant of Warner 1, from a central Old French form.English: reduced form of Gardener.South German: from an agent derivative of Middle High German garn ‘thread’; by extension, an occupational name for a fisherman.Altered spelling of Gerner.
Mann: English, German, Dutch (De Mann), and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a fierce or strong man, or for a man contrasted with a boy, from Middle English, Middle High German, Middle Dutch man. In some cases it may have arisen as an occupational name for a servant, from the medieval use of the term to describe a person of inferior social status. The Jewish surname can be ornamental.English and German: from a Germanic personal name, found in Old English as Manna. This originated either as a byname or else as a short form of a compound name containing this element, such as Hermann.Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Man (cognate with 1).Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Jat) and Sikh name of unknown meaning.
Mack: Scottish (Berwickshire) and Irish: from the Old Norse personal name Makkr, a form of Magnus (Old Irish Maccus).North German, Dutch, and French (Alsace): from the Germanic personal name Macco, Makko, a pet form of a compound name with the initial element mag- ‘kinsman’.Shortened form of any of the many Scottish and Irish names beginning M(a)c-.
Moss: English and Welsh: from the personal name Moss, a Middle English vernacular form of the Biblical name Moses.English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived by a peat bog, Middle English, Old English mos, or a habitational name from a place named with this word. (It was not until later that the vocabulary word came to denote the class of plants characteristic of a peat-bog habitat, under the influence of the related Old Norse word mosi.Americanized form of Moses or some other like-sounding Jewish surname.Irish (Ulster): part translation of Gaelic Ó Maolmhóna ‘descendant of Maolmhóna’, a personal name composed of the elements maol ‘servant’, ‘tonsured one’, ‘devotee’ + a second element which was assumed to be móin (genitive móna) ‘moorland’, ‘peat bog’.
Thornton: English and Scottish: habitational name from any of the numerous places throughout England and Scotland so called, from Old English þorn ‘thorn bush’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.Irish: Anglicized (translated) form of Gaelic Mac Sceacháin ‘son of Sceachán’ (see Skehan).Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Draighneáin ‘descendant of Draighneán’ (see Drennan).Irish: possibly a translated form of Gaelic Ó Muineacháin (see Monahan).
Dennis: English: from the medieval personal name Den(n)is (Latin Dionysius, Greek Dionysios ‘(follower) of Dionysos’, an eastern god introduced to the classical pantheon at a relatively late date and bearing a name of probably Semitic origin). The name was borne by various early saints, including St Denis, the martyred 3rd-century bishop of Paris who became the patron of France; the popularity of the name in England from the 12th century onwards seems to have been largely due to French influence. The feminine form Dionysia (in the vernacular likewise Den(n)is) is also found, and some examples of the surname may represent a metronymic form.English: variant of Dench.Irish (mainly Dublin and Cork): of the same origin as 1 and 2, sometimes an alternative form to Donohue but more often to MacDonough, since the personal name Donnchadh was Anglicized as Donough or Denis.Irish (Ulster and Munster): Anglicized form of the rare Gaelic name Ó Donnghusa ‘descendant of Donnghus’, a personal name from donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + gus ‘vigor’.
McGee: Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Aodha ‘son of Aodh’ (see McCoy).
Farmer: English: occupational name from Middle English, Old French ferm(i)er (Late Latin firmarius). The term denoted in the first instance a tax farmer, one who undertook the collection of taxes, revenues, and imposts, paying a fixed (Latin firmus) sum for the proceeds, and only secondarily someone who rented land for the purpose of cultivation; it was not applied to an owner of cultivated land before the 17th century.Irish: Anglicized (part translated) form of Gaelic Mac an Scolóige ‘son of the husbandman’, a rare surname of northern and western Ireland.
Delgado: Spanish and Portuguese: nickname for a thin person, from Spanish, Portuguese delgado ‘slender’ (Latin delicatus ‘dainty’, ‘exquisite’, a derivative of deliciae ‘delight’, ‘joy’).
Aguilar: Spanish, Catalan, and Jewish (Sephardic): habitational name from any of numerous places called Aguilar, from Latin aquilare ‘haunt of eagles’ (a derivative of aquila ‘eagle’), for example Aguilar de Campo in Palencia, Aguilar de la Frontera in Córdoba, and Aguilar de Segarra in Catalonia. DK, RS.
Vega: Spanish: habitational name from any of the numerous places named Vega or La Vega, from vega ‘meadow’ (of pre-Roman origin, probably originally denoting irrigated land).
Glover: English: occupational name for a maker or seller of gloves, Middle English glovere, an agent noun from Old English glof ‘glove’.
Manning: English: patronymic from Mann 1 and 2.Irish: adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó Mainnín ‘descendant of Mainnín’, probably an assimilated form of Mainchín, a diminutive of manach ‘monk’. This is the name of a chieftain family in Connacht. It is sometimes pronounced Ó Maingín and Anglicized as Mangan.
Cohen: Jewish: from Hebrew kohen ‘priest’. Priests are traditionally regarded as members of a hereditary caste descended from Aaron, brother of Moses. See also Kaplan. ABIrish deleted.
Harmon: Irish (mainly County Louth): generally of English origin (see 1); but sometimes also used as a variant of Harman or Hardiman, i.e. an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hArgadáin (see Hargadon).English: variant spelling of Harman 1.
Rodgers: Scottish, northern Irish, and northern English: patronymic from the personal name Roger 1.
Robbins: English: patronymic from Robin.
Newton: English: habitational name from any of the many places so named, from Old English neowe ‘new’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. According to Ekwall, this is the commonest English place name. For this reason, the surname has a highly fragmented origin.
Todd: English (mainly northern) and Scottish: nickname for someone thought to resemble a fox, for example in cunning or slyness, or perhaps more obviously in having red hair, from northern Middle English tod(de) ‘fox’ (of unknown origin).
Blair: Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from any of the numerous places in Scotland called Blair, named with Scottish Gaelic blàr (genitive blàir) ‘plain’, ‘field’, especially a battlefield (Irish blár).
Higgins: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hUiginn ‘descendant of Uiginn’, a byname meaning ‘viking’, ‘sea-rover’ (from Old Norse víkingr).Irish: variant of Hagan.English: patronymic from the medieval personal name Higgin, a pet form of Hick.
Ingram: English: from a common Norman personal name, Ingram, of Germanic origin, composed of the elements Ing (the name of a Germanic god) + hraban ‘raven’.
Reese: Welsh: from one of the most common Welsh personal names, Rhys, Old Welsh Ris ‘ardor’. This was the name of the last ruler of an independent kingdom of Wales, Rhys ap Tewder, who died in 1093 unsuccessfully opposing the Norman advance.North German and Dutch: nickname for a very big man, from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch rese ‘giant’.German: habitational name from places called Rees or Reese, in Rhineland and Lower Saxony.
Cannon: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Canann or Ó Canann (Ulster), or Ó Canáin (County Galway) ‘son (Mac) or descendant (Ó) of Canán’, a personal name derived from cano ‘wolf cub’. In Ulster it may also be from Ó Canannáin ‘descendant of Canannán’, a diminutive of the personal name.English: from Middle English canun ‘canon’ (Old Norman French canonie, canoine, from Late Latin canonicus). In medieval England this term denoted a clergyman living with others in a clergy house; the surname is mostly an occupational name for a servant in a house of canons, although it could also be a nickname or even a patronymic.
Strickland: English: habitational name from a place in Cumbria, so called from Old English styr(i)c, steorc ‘bullock’ + land ‘land’, ‘pasture’.
Townsend: English: topographic name for someone who lived at the extremity of a village, from Middle English toun ‘village’, ‘settlement’ + ende ‘end’.
Potter: English, Dutch, and North German (Pötter): occupational name for a maker of drinking and storage vessels, from an agent derivative of Middle English, Middle Low German pot. In the Middle Ages the term covered workers in metal as well as earthenware and clay.
Goodwin: English: from the Middle English personal name Godewyn, Old English Godwine, composed of the elements god ‘good’ + wine ‘friend’.
Walton: English: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Walton. The first element in these names was variously Old English walh ‘foreigner’, ‘Briton’, genitive plural wala (see Wallace), w(e)ald ‘forest’, w(e)all ‘wall’, or wæll(a) ‘spring’, ‘stream’.
Rowe: topographic name for someone who lived by a hedgerow or in a row of houses built next to one another, from Middle English row (northern Middle English raw, from Old English raw).from the medieval personal name Row, a variant of Rou(l) (see Rollo, Rolf) or a short form of Rowland.English name adopted by bearers of French Baillargeon.
Hampton: English and Scottish: habitational name from any of the numerous places called Hampton, including the cities of Southampton and Northampton (both of which were originally simply Hamtun). These all share the final Old English element tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’, but the first is variously ham ‘homestead’, hamm ‘water meadow’, or hean, weak dative case (originally used after a preposition and article) of heah ‘high’. This name is also established in Ireland, having first been taken there in the medieval period.
Ortega: Spanish (from Galician): habitational name from Ortega in A Coruña province.Spanish: nickname from ortega ‘(female) black grouse’ (from Greek ortyx ‘quail’).Southern French (Occitan): topographic name from Occitan ortiga ‘nettle’ (Latin urtica, French ortie).
Patton: English, northern Irish, and Scottish: from a pet form of the personal name Pate.
Swanson: Americanized spelling of Swedish Svensson or Danish and Norwegian Svensen (see Svendsen).Scottish and northern English: patronymic from the personal name Swan.
Joseph: English, German, French, and Jewish: from the personal name, Hebrew Yosef ‘may He (God) add (another son)’. In medieval Europe this name was borne frequently but not exclusively by Jews; the usual medieval English vernacular form is represented by Jessup. In the Book of Genesis, Joseph is the favorite son of Jacob, who is sold into slavery by his brothers but rises to become a leading minister in Egypt (Genesis 37–50). In the New Testament Joseph is the husband of the Virgin Mary, which accounts for the popularity of the given name among Christians.
Francis: English: from the personal name Francis (Old French form Franceis, Latin Franciscus, Italian Francisco). This was originally an ethnic name meaning ‘Frank’ and hence ‘Frenchman’. The personal name owed much of its popularity during the Middle Ages to the fame of St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), whose baptismal name was actually Giovanni but who was nicknamed Francisco because his father was absent in France at the time of his birth. As an American family name this has absorbed cognates from several other European languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).Jewish (American): an Americanization of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, or an adoption of the non-Jewish surname.
Goodman: English: status name from Middle English gode ‘good’ + man ‘man’, in part from use as a term for the master of a household. In Scotland the term denoted a landowner who held his land not directly from the crown but from a feudal vassal of the king.English: from the Middle English personal name Godeman, Old English Godmann, composed of the elements god ‘good’ or god ‘god’ + mann ‘man’.English: from the Old English personal name Guðmund, composed of the elements guð ‘battle’ + mund ‘protection’ , or the Old Norse cognate Guðmundr.Americanized form of Jewish Gutman or German Gutmann.
Maldonado: nickname for an ugly or stupid person, from Spanish mal donado ‘ill-favored’. The phrase is a compound of mal ‘badly’ + donado ‘given’, ‘endowed’, past participle of donare ‘to give’, ‘to bestow’.habitational name from Maldonado, a village in the province of Albacete.
Yates: English: from Middle English yates ‘gates’, plural of yate, Old English geat ‘gate’, hence a topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a walled town, or a metonymic occupational name for a gatekeeper.
Becker: Dutch, German, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a baker of bread, or brick and tiles, from backen ‘to bake’.English: occupational name for a maker or user of mattocks or pickaxes, from an agent derivative of Old English becca ‘mattock’.
Erickson: Respelling of a Scandinavian and North German patronymic derived from the Old Norse personal name Eiríkr, which is composed of ei ‘ever’, ‘always’ (or a reduced form of ein ‘one’, ‘only’) + rík ‘power’. The main forms are Erichsen, Eriksen, Ericsson, and Eriksson.
Hodges: English: patronymic from Hodge.
Rios: Galician and Spanish (Ríos): habitational name from any of the places called Ríos, predominantly in Galicia.Spanish (Ríós): habitational name from Ríós in Ourense, Galicia.
Conner: Irish: variant spelling of Connor, now common in Scotland.English: occupational name for an inspector of weights and measures, Middle English connere, cunnere ‘inspector’, an agent derivative of cun(nen) ‘to examine’.
Adkins: English: from the Middle English personal name Adkin, a pet form of Adam that was in use particularly in the English Midlands, + patronymic -s. Compare Atkins.
Webster
Norman
Malone
Hammond
Flowers
Cobb
Moody
Quinn
Blake
Maxwell
Pope
Floyd
Osborne
Paul
McCarthy
Guerrero
Lindsey
Estrada
Sandoval
Gibbs
Tyler
Gross
Fitzgerald
Stokes
Doyle
Sherman
Saunders
Wise
Colon
Gill
Alvarado
Greer
Padilla
Simon: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish (Simón), Czech and Slovak (Šimon), Slovenian, Hungarian, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the personal name, Hebrew Shim‘on, which is probably derived from the verb sham‘a ‘to hearken’. In the Vulgate and in many vernacular versions of the Old Testament, this is usually rendered Simeon. In the Greek New Testament, however, the name occurs as Simon, as a result of assimilation to the pre-existing Greek byname Simon (from simos ‘snub-nosed’). Both Simon and Simeon were in use as personal names in western Europe from the Middle Ages onward. In Christendom the former was always more popular, at least in part because of its associations with the apostle Simon Peter, the brother of Andrew. In Britain there was also confusion from an early date with Anglo-Scandinavian forms of Sigmund (see Siegmund), a name whose popularity was reinforced at the Conquest by the Norman form Simund.
Waters: English: patronymic from an altered form of the personal name Walter.English: variant of Water 2.Irish: when not the English surname, an Anglicized form of various Gaelic names taken to be derived from uisce ‘water’ (see for example Haskin, Hiskey, Tydings).
Nunez
Ballard
Schwartz
McBride
Houston
Christensen
Klein
Pratt: English: nickname for a clever trickster, from Old English prætt ‘trick’, ‘tricky’, ‘cunning’ (which is found in use as a byname in the 11th century). This surname is quite common in southeastern Ireland.
Briggs
Parsons
McLaughlin
Zimmerman
French
Buchanan
Moran
Copeland
Roy
Pittman
Brady
McCormick
Holloway: English: habitational name from any of the numerous minor places so called, from Old English hol ‘hollow’, ‘sunken’ + weg ‘way’, ‘path’. In Ireland, it has sometimes been Gaelicized as Ó hAilmhic (see Hulvey).
Brock: English, Scottish, and North German: variant of Brook.English, Scottish, and Scandinavian: nickname for a person supposedly resembling a badger, Middle English broc(k) (Old English brocc) and Danish brok (a word of Celtic origin; compare Welsh broch, Cornish brogh, Irish broc). In the Middle Ages badgers were regarded as unpleasant creatures.English: nickname from Old French broque, brock ‘young stag’.Dutch: from a personal name, a short form of Brockaert .South German: nickname for a stout and strong man from Middle High German brocke ‘lump’, ‘piece’.Jewish (Ashkenazic): probably an acronymic family name from Jewish Aramaic bar- or Hebrew ben- ‘son of’, and the first letter of each part of a Yiddish double male personal name. Compare Brill.Jewish (from Poland): habitational name from Brok, a place in Poland.
Poole
Frank
Logan
Owen: Welsh: from the Welsh personal name Owain, probably a borrowing in Roman times of Latin Eugenius (see Eugene), but possibly of more ancient Celtic origin, cognate with Gaelic Eoghan.Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Eoghain ‘son of Eoghan’ (see McEwen).

Bass: English: from Old French bas(se) ‘low’, ‘short’ (Latin bassus ‘thickset’; see Basso), either a descriptive nickname for a short person or a status name meaning ‘of humble origin’, not necessarily with derogatory connotations.English: in some instances, from Middle English bace ‘bass’ (the fish), hence a nickname for a person supposedly resembling this fish, or a metonymic occupational name for a fish seller or fisherman.Scottish: habitational name from a place in Aberdeenshire, of uncertain origin.Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a maker or player of bass viols, from Polish, Ukrainian, and Yiddish bas ‘bass viol’.German: see Basse.

Marsh: English: topographic name for someone who lived by or in a marsh or fen, Middle English mershe (Old English mersc), or a habitational name from any of various minor places named with this word, for example in Shropshire and Sussex.

Drake: English: from the Old English byname Draca, meaning ‘snake’ or ‘dragon’, Middle English Drake, or sometimes from the Old Norse cognate Draki. Both are common bynames and, less frequently, personal names. Both the Old English and the Old Norse forms are from Latin draco ‘snake’, ‘monster’ (see Dragon).English and Dutch: from Middle English drake, Middle Dutch drake ‘male duck’ (from Middle Low German andrake), hence a nickname for someone with some fancied resemblance to a drake, or perhaps a habitational name for someone who lived at a house distinguished by the sign of a drake.North German: nickname from Low German drake ‘dragon’ (see Drach 1).

Wong: Chinese: variant of Wang.Chinese: variant of Huang.

Jefferson

Park: English: patronymic from Jeffrey.

Morton: English and Scottish: habitational name from any of the many places called Mor(e)ton, named in Old English as ‘settlement (tun) by or on a marsh or moor (mor)’.Swedish: variant of Martin.French: contracted form of Moreton 2.Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames or of various other non-English names bearing some kind of similarity to it.

Abbott: English and Scottish: from Middle English abbott ‘abbot’ (Old English abbod) or Old French abet ‘priest’. Both the Old English and the Old French term are derived from Late Latin abbas ‘priest’ (genitive abbatis), from Greek abbas, from Aramaic aba ‘father’. This was an occupational name for someone employed in the household of or on the lands of an abbot, and perhaps also a nickname for a sanctimonious person thought to resemble an abbot. In the U.S. this name is also sometimes a translation of a cognate or equivalent European name, e.g. Italian Abate, Spanish Abad, or German Abt.
Sparks: English: patronymic from Spark 1.
Patrick: Scottish and Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Phádraig ‘son of Patrick’, a personal name derived from Latin Patricius ‘son of a noble father’, ‘member of the patrician class’. This was the name of a 5th-century Romano-Briton who became the apostle and patron saint of Ireland, and it was largely as a result of his fame that the personal name was so popular from the Middle Ages onward. In Ireland the surname is usually Scottish in origin, but it is also found as a shortened form of Mulpatrick and Fitzpatrick.
Norton: English: habitational name from any of the many places so called, from Old English norð ‘north’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’. In some cases, it is a variant of Norrington.Irish: altered form of Naughton, assimilated to the English name.Jewish (American): adoption of the English name in place of some like-sounding Ashkenazic name.
Huff: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a spur of a hill, Old English hoh (literally, ‘heel’).German: from the Germanic personal name Hufo, a short form of a compound name formed with hug ‘heart’, ‘mind’, ‘spirit’ as the first element.
Clayton: English: habitational name from any of the numerous places, in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, and elsewhere, named Clayton, from Old English cl?g ‘clay’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.
Massey: English and Scottish (of Norman origin) and French: habitational name from any of various places in northern France which get their names from the Gallo-Roman personal name Maccius + the locative suffix -acum.English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Marcy in La Manche. This surname is preserved in the English place name Stondon Massey.English: from a pet form of Matthew.Altered spelling of French Massé (see Masse 4).
Lloyd: Welsh: descriptive nickname from Welsh llwyd ‘gray’. In Welsh the color term llwyd also includes shades of brown, and it is likely that, when used with reference to younger men, llwyd denoted brown or mouse-colored hair.
Figueroa: Galician: habitational name from any of the places in Galicia named Figueroa, from a derivative of figueira ‘fig tree’.
Carson: Scottish and northern Irish: probably a variant of Curzon.
Bowers: English: variant of Bower.
Roberson: Northern English: variant of Robertson.
Barton: English: habitational name from any of the numerous places named with Old English bere or bær ‘barley’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’, i.e. an outlying grange. Compare Barwick.German and central European (e.g. Czech and Slovak Barton): from a pet form of the personal name Bartolomaeus (see Bartholomew).
Tran: Vietnamese: unexplained.Scottish: nickname from Old Norse trani ‘crane’. IGI.
Lamb: English: from Middle English lamb, a nickname for a meek and inoffensive person, or a metonymic occupational name for a keeper of lambs. See also Lamm.English: from a short form of the personal name Lambert.Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Luain (see Lane 3). MacLysaght comments: ‘The form Lamb(e), which results from a more than usually absurd pseudo-translation (uan ‘lamb’), is now much more numerous than O’Loan itself.Possibly also a translation of French agneau.
Harrington: English: habitational name from places in Cumbria, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire. The first gets its name from Old English Haferingtun ‘settlement (Old English tun) associated with someone called Hæfer’, a byname meaning ‘he-goat’. The second probably meant ‘settlement (Old English tun) of someone called Hæring’. Alternatively, the first element may have been Old English hæring ‘stony place’ or haring ‘gray wood’. The last, recorded in Domesday Book as Arintone and in 1184 as Hederingeton, is most probably named with an unattested Old English personal name, Heathuhere.Irish (County Kerry and the West): adopted as an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hArrachtáin ‘descendant of Arrachtán’, a personal name from a diminutive of arrachtach ‘mighty’, ‘powerful’.Irish (County Kerry): adopted as an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hIongardail, later Ó hUrdáil, ‘descendant of Iongardal’.Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hOireachtaigh ‘descendant of Oireachtach’, a byname meaning ‘member of the assembly’ or ‘frequenting assemblies’.
Casey: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Cathasaigh ‘descendant of Cathasach’, a byname meaning ‘vigilant’ or ‘noisy’.
Boone: English (of Norman origin): from a nickname meaning ‘good’, from Old French bon ‘good’. Compare Bone 1.English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Bohon in La Manche, France, of obscure etymology.Dutch: from Middle Dutch bone, boene ‘bean’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a bean grower or a nickname for a man of little importance (broad beans having been an extremely common crop in the medieval period), or possibly for a tall thin man (with reference to the runner bean).
Cortez: Spanish: variant of Cortés (see Cortes).
Clarke: English: occupational name for a scribe or secretary, originally a member of a minor religious order who undertook such duties. The word clerc denoted a member of a religious order, from Old English cler(e)c ‘priest’, reinforced by Old French clerc. Both are from Late Latin clericus, from Greek klerikos, a derivative of kleros ‘inheritance’, ‘legacy’, with reference to the priestly tribe of Levites (see Levy) ‘whose inheritance was the Lord’. In medieval Christian Europe, clergy in minor orders were permitted to marry and so found families; thus the surname could become established. In the Middle Ages it was virtually only members of religious orders who learned to read and write, so that the term clerk came to denote any literate man.
Mathis: Dutch and French: from a variant of the personal name Mathias (see Matthew).English: patronymic from a pet form of Matthew.
Singleton: English: habitational name from places in Lancashire and Sussex. The former seems from the present-day distribution of the surname to be the major source, and is named from Old English scingel ‘shingle(s)’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’; the latter gets its name from Old English sengel ‘burnt clearing’ + tun.
Wilkins: English and Dutch: patronymic from Wilkin.
Cain: Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Iain, patronymic from Iain, one of the Gaelic forms of John. This name is found in many other spellings, including McCain, Kean, and McKean. In some cases it may also be a variant of Coyne.English: variant spelling of Cane.English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Caen in Calvados, France, named with the Gaulish elements catu ‘battle’ + magos ‘field’, ‘plain’.French (Caïn): from the Biblical name Cain (Hebrew Qayin), probably applied as a derogatory nickname for someone who was considered to be treacherous.Spanish (Caín): habitational name from a place called Caín in León.
Bryan: English (of Norman origin): habitational name (de Brionne) from either of two places called Brionne in northern France (in Eure and Creuse).Irish and English: from the Celtic personal name Brian (see O’Brien). Breton bearers of this name were among the Normans who invaded England in 1066, and they went on to invade and settle in Ireland in the 12th century, where the name mingled with the native Irish name Brian. This native Irish name had also been borrowed by Vikings, who introduced it independently into northwestern England before the Norman Conquest.
Underwood: English and Scottish: topographic name for someone who lived near or in a wood, from Middle English under + wude, wode ‘wood’, or a habitational name from any of various places so named, for example in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and the former county of Ayrshire (from Old English under + wudu).
Hogan: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hÓgáin ‘descendant of Ógán’, a personal name from a diminutive of óg ‘young’, also ‘young warrior’. In the south, some bearers claim descent from an uncle of Brian Boru. In northern Ireland a surname of the same form was Anglicized as Hagan.
McKenzie: Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Coinnich, patronymic from the personal name Coinneach meaning ‘comely’. Compare Menzies.
Collier: English: occupational name for a burner of charcoal or a gatherer or seller of coal, from Middle English cole ‘(char)coal’ + the agent suffix -(i)er.
Luna: Spanish: habitational name from places called Luna in Zaragoza, Araba, and Lleón provinces.Jewish (Sephardic): from the female personal name Luna (Spanish luna ‘moon’).
Phelps: English (southwestern): patronymic from Philip.
McGuire: Irish and Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mag Uidhir ‘son of Odhar’, a byname meaning ‘sallow’. This was the name of the ruling family of Fermanagh from the 13th–17th centuries.
Allison: English and Scottish: patronymic from a Middle English male personal name: in most cases probably Allen, but other possibilities include a variant of Ellis or a short form of Alexander. In some instances, it may be from a female personal name, Alise or Alice (see Allis).
Bridges: English: variant of Bridge. The -s generally represents the genitive case, but may occasionally be a plural. In some cases this name denoted someone from the Flemish city of Bruges (Brugge), meaning ‘bridges’, which had extensive trading links with England in the Middle Ages.
Wilkerson: English: patronymic from Wilkin.
Nash: English: topographic name for someone who lived by an ash tree, a variant of Ash by misdivision of Middle English atten ash ‘at the ash’, or a habitational name from any of the many places in England and Wales named Nash, from this phrase, as for example Nash in Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire, or Shropshire. The name was established from an early date in Wales and Ireland.Jewish: of unknown origin, possibly an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.
Summers: English: patronymic from Summer 1.Irish (Sligo): adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó Somacháin ‘descendant of Somachán’, a nickname meaning ‘gentle’, ‘innocent’.Americanized form of some like-sounding Ashkenazic Jewish name.
Atkins: English: patronymic from the personal name Atkin.
Wilcox: English: patronymic from Wilcock.
Pitts: English: variant of Pitt.Americanized spelling of German Pitz.
Conley: Irish: reduced form of Connolly.
Marquez: Spanish (Márquez): patronymic from the personal name Marcos.
Burnett: Scottish and English: descriptive nickname from Old French burnete, a diminutive of brun ‘brown’ (see Brown).
Richard: English, French, German, and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ric ‘power(ful)’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.
Cochran: Scottish: habitational name from lands in the parish of Paisley, near Glasgow. The place name is of uncertain derivation, perhaps from Welsh coch ‘red’, although this etymology is not supported by the early spelling Coueran.
Chase: English: metonymic occupational name for a huntsman, or rather a nickname for an exceptionally skilled huntsman, from Middle English chase ‘hunt’ (Old French chasse, from chasser ‘to hunt’, Latin captare).Southern French: topographic name for someone who lived in or by a house, probably the occupier of the most distinguished house in the village, from a southern derivative of Latin casa ‘hut’, ‘cottage’, ‘cabin’.
Davenport: English: habitational name from a place in Cheshire named Davenport, from the Dane river (apparently named with a Celtic cognate of Middle Welsh dafnu ‘to drop’, ‘to trickle’) + Old English port ‘market town’.Irish (County Tipperary): English surname adopted by bearers of Munster Gaelic Ó Donndubhartaigh ‘descendant of Donndubhartach’, a personal name composed of the elements donn ‘brown-haired man’ or ‘chieftain’ + dubh ‘black’ + artach ‘nobleman’.

Hood: English and Scottish: metonymic occupational name for a maker of hoods or a nickname for someone who wore a distinctive hood, from Middle English hod(de), hood, hud ‘hood’. Some early examples with prepositions seem to be topographic names, referring to a place where there was a hood-shaped hill or a natural shelter or overhang, providing protection from the elements. In some cases the name may be habitational, from places called Hood, in Devon (possibly ‘hood-shaped hill’) and North Yorkshire (possibly ‘shelter’ or ‘fortification’).Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hUid ‘descendant of Ud’, a personal name of uncertain derivation. This was the name of an Ulster family who were bards to the O’Neills of Clandeboy. It was later altered to Mac hUid. Compare Mahood.

Gates: English: topographic name for someone who lived by the gates of a medieval walled town. The Middle English singular gate is from the Old English plural, gatu, of geat ‘gate’ (see Yates). Since medieval gates were normally arranged in pairs, fastened in the center, the Old English plural came to function as a singular, and a new Middle English plural ending in -s was formed. In some cases the name may refer specifically to the Sussex place Eastergate (i.e. ‘eastern gate’), known also as Gates in the 13th and 14th centuries, when surnames were being acquired.Americanized spelling of German Götz (see Goetz).Translated form of French Barrière (see Barriere).

Clay: English: from Old English cl?g ‘clay’, applied as a topographic name for someone who lived in an area of clay soil or as a metonymic occupational name for a worker in a clay pit (see Clayman).Americanized spelling of German Klee.

Ayala: Basque: habitational name or topographic name from Basque ai ‘slope’, ‘hillside’ + al(h)a ‘pasture’.

Sawyer: English: occupational name for someone who earned his living by sawing wood, Middle English saghier, an agent derivative of sagh(en) ‘to saw’.Americanized form of some like-sounding Jewish surname or a translation of Seger.

Roman: Catalan, French, English, German (also Romann), Polish, Hungarian (Román), Romanian, Ukrainian, and Belorussian: from the Latin personal name Romanus, which originally meant ‘Roman’. This name was borne by several saints, including a 7th-century bishop of Rouen.English, French, and Catalan: regional or ethnic name for someone from Rome or from Italy in general, or a nickname for someone who had some connection with Rome, as for example having been there on a pilgrimage. Compare Romero.

Vazquez: Galician and Spanish (Vázquez): variant of Vásquez (see Vasquez).

Dickerson: English (mainly East Anglia): patronymic from a pet form of Dick 1.

Hodge: from the medieval personal name Hodge, a short form of Roger. (For the change of initial, compare Hick.nickname from Middle English hodge ‘hog’, which occurs as a dialect variant of hogge, for example in Cheshire place names.

Acosta: Portuguese and Spanish: altered form (by misdivision) of Da Costa.

Flynn: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Floinn ‘descendant of Flann’, a byname meaning ‘red(dish)’, ‘ruddy’. There were families of this name in various parts of Ireland.

Espinoza: South American spelling of Spanish Espinosa; the spelling with -z- represents a voiced pronunciation heard in some Latin-American countries, whereas in Castilian Spanish it now has an unvoiced -s-.

Nicholson: Northern English and Scottish: patronymic from Nichol.

Monroe: Scottish: according to tradition, this is a rare example of a Gaelic surname of topographic origin, the first element of which is probably Gaelic mun, a mutated form of bun ‘foot’, or British minit ‘hill’. In Ireland this name has sometimes been used as an equivalent of O’Mellan (see Mellon) and Milroy 2.

Wolf: English, Danish, and German: from a short form of the various Germanic compound names with a first element wolf ‘wolf’, or a byname or nickname with this meaning. The wolf was native throughout the forests of Europe, including Britain, until comparatively recently. In ancient and medieval times it played an important role in Germanic mythology, being regarded as one of the sacred beasts of Woden. This name is widespread throughout northern, central, and eastern Europe, as well as in Britain and German-speaking countries.German: habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a wolf, Middle High German wolf.Jewish (Ashkenazic): from the Yiddish male personal name Volf meaning ‘wolf’, which is associated with the Hebrew personal name Binyamin (see Benjamin). This association stems from Jacob’s dying words ‘Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil’ (Genesis 49:27).Irish: variant spelling of Woulfe.
Morrow: Irish: shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Murchadha (see McMorrow)
Kirk: Scottish and northern English, and Danish: from northern Middle English, Danish kirk ‘church’ (Old Norse kirkja), a topographic name for someone who lived near a church.
Randall: English: from the Middle English personal name Randel, a diminutive of Rand with the Anglo-Norman French hypocoristic suffix -el.
Anthony: English: from the personal name Anthony, Latin Antonius. See also Anton. This, with its variants, cognates, and derivatives, is one of the commonest European personal names. Many of the European forms have been absorbed into this spelling as American family names; for the forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988. Spellings with -h-, which first appear in English in the 16th century and in French (as Anthoine) at about the same time, are due to the erroneous belief that the name derives from Greek anthos ‘flower’. The popularity of the personal name in Christendom is largely due to the cult of the Egyptian hermit St. Anthony (ad 251–356), who in his old age gathered a community of hermits around him, and for that reason is regarded by some as the founder of monasticism. It was further increased by the fame of St. Anthony of Padua (1195–1231), who long enjoyed a great popular cult and who is believed to help people find lost things.South Indian: this is only a given name in India, but has come to be used as a family name among Christians from South India in the U.S.
Whitaker: English: habitational name from any of various places named with Old English hwit ‘white’ or hw?te ‘wheat’ + æcer ‘cultivated land’, as for example Whitaker in Lancashire and Whitacre in Warwickshire (both ‘white field’) or Whiteacre in Kent and Wheatacre in Norfolk (both ‘wheat field’).

O'Connor: Irish (Derry, Connacht, Munster): Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Conchobhair ‘descendant of Conchobhar’, a personal name which is said to have begun as Cú Chobhair, from cú ‘hound’ (genitive con) + cobhar ‘desiring’, i.e. ‘hound of desire’. Present-day bearers of the surname claim descent from a 10th-century king of Connacht of this name. In Irish legend, Conchobhar was a king of Ulster who lived at around the time of Christ and who adopted the youthful Cú Chulainn.

Skinner: English: occupational name for someone who stripped the hide from animals, to be used in the production of fur garments or to be tanned for leather, from an agent derivative of Middle English skin ‘hide’, ‘pelt’ (Old Norse skinn).

Ware: topographic name for someone who lived by a dam or weir on a river (Old English wær, wer), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, such as Ware in Hertfordshire.nickname for a cautious person, from Middle English war(e) ‘wary’, ‘prudent’ (Old English (ge)wær).

Molina: Spanish and Catalan: habitational name from any of numerous places named Molina, in particular the one in Guadalajara province.

Kirby:English: habitational name from any of the numerous places in northern England called Kirby or Kirkby, from Old Norse kirkja ‘church’ + býr ‘settlement’.Irish: adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Ó Garmhaic ‘descendant of Ciarmhac’, a personal name meaning ‘dark son’. Compare Kerwick.
Huffman: Altered spelling of Hoffmann.
Bradford: English: habitational name from any of the many places, large and small, called Bradford; in particular the city in West Yorkshire, which originally rose to prosperity as a wool town. There are others in Derbyshire, Devon, Dorset, Greater Manchester, Norfolk, Somerset, and elsewhere. They are all named with Old English brad ‘broad’ + ford ‘ford’.
Charles: French, Welsh, and English: from the French form of the Germanic personal name Carl ‘man’ (which was Latinized as Carolus). In France the personal name was popular from an early date, due to the fame of the Emperor Charlemagne (?742–814; Latin name Carolus Magnus, i.e. Charles the Great). The Old French form Charles was briefly introduced to England by the Normans, but was rare during the main period of surname formation. It was introduced more successfully to Scotland in the 16th century by the Stuarts, who had strong ties with France, and was brought by them to England in the 17th century. Its frequency as a Welsh surname is attributable to the late date of Welsh surname formation. Old English Ceorl ‘peasant’ is also found as a byname, but the resulting Middle English form, Charl, with a patronymic in -s, if it existed at all, would have been absorbed by the French form introduced by the Normans. Compare Carl. English variants pronounced with initial k- for the most part reflect the cognate Old Norse personal name Karl, Karli.Swedish: ornamental form of a Frenchified form of the Old Norse personal name Karl.
Gilmore: Scottish and Irish (Ulster): reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Gille Mhoire (Scots), Mac Giolla Mhuire (Irish), patronymics from personal names meaning ‘servant of (the Virgin) Mary’.Irish: in Armagh, reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Mhura ‘servant of St. Mura (of Fahan, Donegal)’ or, in Sligo, of Mac Giolla Mhir ‘son of the spirited lad’.
Dominguez: Spanish (Domínguez): patronymic from the personal name Domingo.
O'Neal: Irish: variant spelling of O’Neill.
Bruce: Scottish and English (of Norman origin): habitational name from a place in Normandy which has not been certainly identified. Traditionally, it is believed to be derived from Brix near Cherbourg, but Le Brus in Calvados and Briouze in Orne have also been proposed as candidates.
Lang: Scottish, English, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for a tall person, from Older Scots, Middle English, Middle Dutch, Middle German, and Danish lang ‘long’, Swedish lång.Hungarian: from láng ‘flame’, hence probably a nickname for a passionate person, or a man with a fighting spirit. Alternatively it may be an indirect occupational name for a smith or someone who worked with fire.Chinese : from the name of a place called Lang City in the state of Lu, founded during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc) by a grandson of the ruler. His descendants lived there and adopted Lang as their surname.Vietnamese (Lãng): unexplained.
Combs: Northern Irish: reduced form of McCombs.English: variant of Coombs.
Kramer: German (also Krämer), Dutch, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a shopkeeper, peddler, or hawker, from an agent derivative of Middle High German, Middle Low German kram ‘trading post’, ‘tent’, ‘booth’. EG, AB This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.
Heath: English: topographic name for someone who lived on a heath (Middle English hethe, Old English h?ð) or a habitational name from any of the numerous places, for example in Bedfordshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, and West Yorkshire, named with this word. The same word also denoted heather, the characteristic plant of heathland areas. This surname has also been established in Dublin since the late 16th century.
Hancock: English: from the Middle English personal name Hann + the hypocoristic suffix -cok, which was commonly added to personal names (see Cocke).Dutch: from Middle Dutch hanecoc ‘winkle’, ‘periwinkle’ (a type of shellfish), probably a metonymic occupational name for someone who gathered and sold shellfish.
Gallagher: Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Gallchobhair ‘descendant of Gallchobhar’, a personal name from the elements gall ‘strange’, ‘foreign’ + cabhair ‘help’, ‘support’.
Gaines: English (of Norman origin): nickname for a crafty or ingenious person, from a reduced form of Old French engaine ‘ingenuity’, ‘trickery’ (Latin ingenium ‘native wit’). The word was also used in a concrete sense of a stratagem or device, particularly a trap.This surname has also assimilated reduced variants of Welsh Gurganus.
Shaffer: Americanized spelling of German Schaffer ‘steward’ or of Schaefer ‘shepherd’.
Short: English: nickname from Middle English schort ‘short’.Scottish and northern Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Gheairr, Mac an Ghirr ‘son of the short man’ (see McGirr).
Wiggins:English: patronymic from the personal name Wiggin.
Mathews: English: patronymic from Mathew; a variant spelling of Matthews. In the U.S., this form has absorbed some European cognates such as German Matthäus.
McClain
Fischer: German, Danish, and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a fisherman, from Fisch + the agent suffix -er. This name is widespread throughout central and eastern Europe.
Wall: English: topographic name for someone who lived by a stone-built wall, e.g. one used to fortify a town or to keep back the encroachment of the sea (Old English w(e)all, from Latin vallum ‘rampart’, ‘palisade’).Northern English: topographic name for someone who lived by a spring or stream, northern Middle English wall(e) (Old English (Mercian) wæll(a); compare Well).Irish: re-Anglicized form of de Bhál, a Gaelicized form of de Valle, the name of a Norman family established in Munster and Connacht.German: topographic name for someone who lived by a defensive wall, Middle High German wal.German: variant of Wahl 2.German: from a short form of the personal name Walther.Swedish: ornamental name from Swedish vall ‘grassy bank’, ‘pasture’, ‘grazing ground’, or in some cases a habitational name from a place named with this element.

Small: English: nickname for a person of slender build or diminutive stature, from Middle English smal ‘thin’, ‘narrow’.Translation of equivalents in other European languages, such as German Klein and Schmal, French Petit.

Melton: Northern English: habitational name from any of various places, for example in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, and Yorkshire, all of which have the same origin as Middleton, with Old English middel replaced by its Old Norse equivalent meðal after the Scandinavian settlement of northern and eastern England.

Hensley: probably a habitational name from either of two places in Devon: Hensley in East Worlington, which is named with the Old English personal name Heahmund + Old English leah ‘(woodland) clearing’, or Hensleigh in Tiverton, which is named from Old English hengest ‘stallion’ (or the Old English personal name Hengest) + leah.possibly also a variant of Hemsley.

Bond: English: status name for a peasant farmer or husbandman, Middle English bonde (Old English bonda, bunda, reinforced by Old Norse bóndi). The Old Norse word was also in use as a personal name, and this has given rise to other English and Scandinavian surnames alongside those originating as status names. The status of the peasant farmer fluctuated considerably during the Middle Ages; moreover, the underlying Germanic word is of disputed origin and meaning. Among Germanic peoples who settled to an agricultural life, the term came to signify a farmer holding lands from, and bound by loyalty to, a lord; from this developed the sense of a free landholder as opposed to a serf. In England after the Norman Conquest the word sank in status and became associated with the notion of bound servitude.Swedish: variant of Bonde.

Dyer: English: occupational name for a dyer of cloth, Middle English dyer (from Old English deag ‘dye’; the verb is a back-formation from the agent noun). This surname also occurs in Scotland, but Lister is a more common equivalent there.Irish (Counties Sligo and Roscommon): usually a short form of MacDyer, an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Duibhir ‘son of Duibhir’, a short form of a personal name composed of the elements dubh ‘dark’, ‘black’ + odhar ‘sallow’, ‘tawny’.

Cameron: as a Highland clan name it is from a nickname from Gaelic cam ‘crooked’, ‘bent’ + sròn ‘nose’.in the Lowlands it is also a habitational name from any of various places called Cameron, especially in Fife.

Grimes: English: patronymic from Grime.

Contreras: Spanish: habitational name from Conteraras, a place in the province of Burgos. The place name is derived from Late Latin contraria ‘surrounding area’, ‘region’ (from the preposition contra ‘opposite’, ‘against’, ‘hard by’).

Christian: English, German, and French: from the personal name Christian, a vernacular form of Latin Christianus ‘follower of Christ’ (see Christ). This personal name was introduced into England following the Norman conquest, especially by Breton settlers. It was also used in the same form as a female name.

Wyatt
Baxter
Snow
Mosley
Shepherd
Larsen
Hoover
Beasley
Glenn
Petersen
Whitehead
Meyers
Keith
Garrison
Vincent
Shields
Horn
Savage
Olsen
Schroeder
Hartman
Woodard: occupational name for a forester employed to look after the trees and game in a forest, Middle English woodward (from the Old English elements mentioned at 2).perhaps also from an Old English personal name Wuduweard, composed of the elements wudu ‘wood’ + weard ‘guardian’, ‘protector’.

Mueller: German (Müller) and Jewish (Ashkenazic): occupational name for a miller, Middle High German müller, German Müller. In Germany Müller, Mueller is the most frequent of all surnames; in the U.S. it is often changed to Miller.

Kemp: English, Scottish, Dutch, and North German: status name for a champion, Middle English and Middle Low German kempe. In the Middle Ages a champion was a professional fighter on behalf of others; for example the King’s Champion, at the coronation, had the duty of issuing a general challenge to battle to anyone who denied the king’s right to the throne. The Middle English word corresponds to Old English cempa and Old Norse kempa ‘warrior’; both these go back to Germanic campo ‘warrior’, which is the source of the Dutch and North German name, corresponding to High German Kampf.Dutch: metonymic occupational name for someone who grew or processed hemp, from Middle Dutch canep ‘hemp’.

DeLeon: Spanish (De León): habitational name, variant of León, with the preposition de (see Leon).French (Deléon): patronymic from Léon (see Lyon 2). Not in DAUZAT OR JETTE. SW. Concentrated in TX; probably Cuban.

Booth

Patel: Indian (Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka): Hindu and Parsi name which goes back to an official title meaning ‘village headman’, p??tel in Gujarati, Marathi, and Kannada (where it is pa?tela). It comes ultimately from Sanskrit pa?t?takila ‘tenant of royal land’. Among the Indians in the U.S, it is the most common family name.

Calhoun: Irish: variant of Scottish Colquhoun.

Wiley: Northern Irish and Scottish: variant of Wylie.Possibly also English, a habitational name from Wylye in Wiltshire, named for the Wylye river (see Wilton).English: possibly a variant of Willey.

Eaton: English: habitational name from any of the numerous places so named from Old English ea ‘river’ or eg ‘island’, ‘low-lying land’ + tun ‘enclosure’, ‘settlement’.

Cline: Americanized spelling of German Klein or a Jewish (Ashkenazic) variant of this name.Variant spelling of Scottish or Irish Clyne.

Navarro: Spanish, Italian, and Jewish (Sephardic) (of Basque origin): regional name denoting someone from Navarre (see Navarra).

Harrell: English: variant of Harold.Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hEarghail ‘descendant of Earghal’, a personal name with the same etymology as Fearghal (see Farrell).

Lester: English: habitational name from Leicester, named in Old English from the tribal name Ligore (itself adapted from a British river name) + Old English ceaster ‘Roman fort or walled city’ (Latin castra ‘legionary camp’).English (of Norman origin): habitational name from Lestre in Normandy.English and Scottish: variant of Lister.

Humphrey: English: from the Old French personal name Humfrey, introduced to Britain by the Normans. This is composed of the Germanic elements hun ‘bear cub’ + frid, fred ‘peace’. It was borne by a 9th-century saint, bishop of Therouanne, who had a certain following in England among Norman settlers.
Parrish: English (mainly southern): from the Old French habitational name and personal name Paris (see Paris 1). Parrish is the most common form of the name in English, and is the result of confusion between -s and -sh (compare Norris), reinforced by folk etymological association with the modern English word parish. In the 17th and 18th centuries the surname was occasionally bestowed on foundlings brought up at the expense of the parish.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Are Hillary's Looks a Problem for Her Campaign?

California: Obama Supporting Driver's Licenses for Illegal Aliens

Video: Bare Boobies a Fashion Statement

Hillary's Racist Tactics Will Come Back to Haunt Her

Connecticut: Obama, Hillary Tied

Connecticut Democratic Primary
Hillary Clinton	40%
Barack Obama	40%
John Edwards	11%

Source: Rasmussen Reports

Video: Bird Poops into Reporter's Mouth.

Yes!!!

Hungary: Fidesz Still Overwhelmingly Popular

If an election were held today, what party would you support?
(Decided Voters)

	Jan. 2008	Dec. 2007	Nov. 2007
Hungarian Citizens Party (Fidesz)	64%	64%	64%
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)	25%	26%	26%
Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ)	4%	5%	4%
Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF)	3%	2%	4%

Source: Median
Methodology: Interviews with 1,200 Hungarian adults, conducted from Jan 11 to Jan. 15, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Germany: Conservatives Lead by 9 pts.

What party would you vote for in the next federal election?

	Jan. 8	Dec. 13	Dec. 5
Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) / Bavarian Christian-Social Party (CSU)	39%	39%	40%
Social Democratic Party (SPD)	30%	28%	28%
Left Party (Linke)	9%	10%	11%
Free Democratic Party (FDP)	9%	10%	9%

Source: Infratest-Dimap
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 German voters, conducted on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

UK: Conservatives Have 10 pt. Lead

How would you vote if there were a general election tomorrow? Which party are you most inclined to support?

	Jan. 10	Dec. 7	Nov. 27
Conservative	42%	42%	41%
Labour	32%	35%	32%
Liberal Democrats	15%	14%	17%
Other	11%	9%	10%

Source: Ipsos-MORI
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 517 absolutely certain British voters, conducted on Jan. 9 and Jan. 10, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

McCain Leads Hillary, Tied With Obama

McCain vs. Rodham Clinton

	Jan. 2008	Nov. 2007	Dec. 2006
John McCain (R)	46%	43%	47%
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)	44%	47%	43%

McCain vs. Obama

	Jan. 2008	Apr. 2007	Dec. 2006
John McCain (R)	42%	39%	43%
Barack Obama (D)	42%	45%	38%

Source: Hart/McInturff / The Wall Street Journal / NBC News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,008 American adults, conducted from Jan. 20 to Jan. 22, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Bigotry Against Mormons Stronger Than Bigotry Against Blacks, Women

Hillary Clinton (D) vs. Mitt Romney (R)
Hillary Clinton (D)	47%
Mitt Romney (R)	41%

Barack Obama (D) vs. Mitt Romney (R)
Barack Obama (D)	49%
Mitt Romney (R)	37%

Barack Obama (D) vs.
Mitt Romney (R)

Barack Obama (D)

49%

Mitt Romney (R)

37%

South Carolina: Obama Leads Hillary by 13

Election 2008: South Carolina Democratic Primary
Barack Obama	44%
Hillary Clinton	31%
John Edwards	15%
Some Other Candidate	6%
Not Sure	5%

Source: Rasmussen Reports

USA: Security Vastly More Important Than Privacy

What is More Important, Privacy or Security?
Privacy	29%
Security	51%
Not Sure/Too Freakin' Dumb	20%

Source: Rasmussen Reports

McCain 34, Huckabee 21, Giuliani 18, Romney 14, Fred 6

Please tell me which of the following people you would be most likely to support for the Republican nomination for president in 2008.

	Jan. 2008	Dec. 2007	Nov. 2007
John McCain	34%	13%	16%
Mike Huckabee	21%	22%	10%
Rudy Giuliani	18%	24%	28%
Mitt Romney	14%	16%	11%
Fred Thompson	6%	10%	19%
Ron Paul	5%	6%	5%
Duncan Hunter	1%	2%	4%
Tom Tancredo	n.a.	1%	3%
No opinion	2%	6%	5%

Source: Opinion Research Corporation / CNN
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 397 registered Republicans, conducted from Jan. 9 to Jan. 10, 2008. Margin of error is 5 per cent.

Do Japanese Have More American Spirit Than We Do?

Do you support or oppose Japan’s participation in the Afghanistan fuelling assistance mission?

	Jan. 2008	Dec. 2007
Support	44.1%	38.8%
Oppose	43.9%	46.7%

Source: Kyodo News
Methodology: Interviews with 1,027 Japanese adults, conducted on Jan. 11 and Jan. 12, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Bolivia: Half Like Evo

Do you approve or disapprove of Evo Morales’ performance as president?

Approve	50.6%
Disapprove	42.1%

Source: Captura Consulting SRL / El Deber
Methodology: Interviews with 820 adult Bolivians in La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, conducted from Dec. 28 to Dec. 30, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

National Poll: McCain Leads Hillary, Obama

McCain v. Rodham Clinton

	Jan. 2008	Nov. 200	Jun. 2007
John McCain (R)	50%	44%	46%
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)	47%	50%	49%

McCain v. Obama

	Jan. 2008	Nov. 200	Jun. 2007
John McCain (R)	50%	44%	46%
Barack Obama (D)	44%	47%	48%

Huckabee v. Rodham Clinton

	Jan. 2008	Dec. 2007
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)	51%	53%
Mike Huckabee (R)	44%	44%

Huckabee v. Obama

	Jan. 2008	Dec. 2007
Barack Obama (D)	53%	53%
Mike Huckabee (R)	43%	42%

Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,790 American registered voters, conducted from Jan. 10 to Jan. 13, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

UK: Government Will Harvest People's Organs Without Consent

Hillary Henchman Blumenthal Arrested for DWI

Mugshot of Sydney Blumenthal
DWI

Funny Video: Smug Liberal Basement-Boy Attacks Bush

That's a great forced laugh:

Uh, ha ha ha.
Bla bla bla.
Ha.
Bla.
Uh, ha ha ha ha.
Bla bla.
Ha ha.

Strike Hastening the End of Hollywood?

I hope so.

Edwards Criticizes Hillary's Racist Comments

Michigan: Romney Looking Good

UK: Majority Against Sending 'Young People' to Prison

Do you think sending young people to prison for non-violent crimes is effective or not effective in reducing the likelihood of them re-offending?

Effective	21%
Not effective	66%
Don’t know	14%

Source: ICM Research / SmartJustice
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,034 British adults, conducted from Dec. 14 to Dec. 26, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Part 3: Defending Canadian Free Speech

Part 2: Defending Free Speech in Canada

Canada: Brilliant Defense of Free Speech

Funny Cats Video

Associated (With Democrats) Press: Sugarcoating Rathergate

Italian Soccer Team Adopts Hezbollah Logo

Important Traffic Information

You need to know this.

Democrats Frantic to Crash Economy Before Election

What Happened to Giuliani?

Video: 'Romantic' Pranks Pulled on Hispanics

You won't understand what they are saying, but get used to it. This is America.

Kentucky: McConnell Sitting Prettier

General Election Matchups
McConnell 50
Stumbo 40

McConnell 52
Lunsford 37

McConnell 53
Owen 35

McConnell 54
Fischer 32

McConnell 55
Horne 32

Source: Real Clear Politics

Obama Strong in New York

Hillary's Mudslinging Against Obama 'Painful' to Blacks

"Too bad. You'll vote for me in the end!

You always do. Now get back to work
on my plantation!"

Russian Police Brutality Caught on Video

Scumbag.

Fred Thompson's Turn to be 'Comeback Kid'

Candidates Ignoring Nevada

Israel Wants Olmert Out

Soon the Winograd Commission will be presenting its final report. If the report includes harsh criticism of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert’s functioning during the Second Lebanon War, would you support or oppose a demand that he resign from his post, even if the commission does not make personal recommendations?

Support	66%
Oppose	20%
Not sure	14%

Source: Peace Index Project / Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research / Evens Program in Mediation and Conflict Resolution of Tel Aviv University
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 595 Israeli adults, conducted on Jan. 1 and Jan. 2, 2008. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.

Virginia: McCain Leads Hillary, Obama; Romney Only Leads Hillary

John McCain (R) 45% - 43% Barack Obama (D)
John McCain (R) 49% - 38% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)

Mitt Romney (R) 41% - 47% Barack Obama (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 44% - 43% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)

Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 500 likely Virginia voters, conducted on Jan. 3, 2008. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.

Pennsylvania: McCain Leads Hillary, Obama

John McCain (R) 46% - 38% Barack Obama (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 38% - 43% Barack Obama (D)

John McCain (R) 48% - 43% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)
Mike Huckabee (R) 44% - 46% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)
Mitt Romney (R) 39% - 49% Hillary Rodham Clinton (D)

Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 500 likely Pennsylvania voters, conducted on Jan. 8, 2008. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.

Americans Against Internet Voting

If it could be made secure from fraud, would you support or oppose a system allowing people to cast their vote for president and other political offices over the Internet?

	Dec. 2007	Jul. 1999
Support	44%	42%
Oppose	54%	52%
Unsure	3%	5%

Do you think an Internet voting system could be made secure from fraud any time in the near future, or do you think it will be many years before that’s possible?

	Dec. 2007	Jul. 1999
Near Future	18%	24%
Many Years	67%	62%
Never	11%	7%
Unsure	4%	7%

Source: TNS / ABC News / Facebook
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,142 American adults, conducted from Dec. 16 to Dec. 19, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

10 Best Individual Seasons in NHL History

10. Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Montreal Canadiens, 1944-45

Richard established an NHL benchmark for greatness during the 1944-45 season when he became the league's first 50-goal scorer, accomplishing the feat in a 50-game season. In a season in which Richard didn't win a Stanley Cup ring or even the scoring title, the significance of 50 in 50 cannot be diminished. It would take another 16 years before anyone else would manage to score as many as 50 goals in a season (Bernie Geoffrion, in a 64-game season). Not until Mike Bossy scored twice in the final five minutes of the Islanders' 50th game in 1980-81 did another player match Richard's feat. For the Rocket, the 1944-45 season blasted him into iconic status, making him a superstar in the NHL and a living legend in his home province of Quebec. Considering it was the only season Richard would score 50 goals speaks volumes to how important that number was and still is today in hockey lore.

9. Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins, 1970-71

In the 1970-71 season, the Bruins set league records for goals (399), wins (57) and points (121), and it was Esposito who led the way. In 78 games, Espo shattered the league record for goals with 76, to go along with 76 assists for a league-record 152 points. It would take a decade before Wayne Gretzky would topple those marks. Boston players dominated the scoring race that season, with Bobby Orr, John Bucyk and Ken Hodge following Esposito in the scoring race, giving the B's the top four overall scorers. Despite the Bruins' being upset in the playoffs by a rookie goalie named Ken Dryden, this would be a special season for Esposito, as he captured the first of four straight scoring titles and became the first player ever awarded the newly created Lester B. Pearson award for top player as voted by the players.

8. Gordie Howe, Detroit Red Wings, 1951-52

Howe's longevity in the game is second to none. In six different seasons over a 12-year span, Howe was honored as the NHL's MVP. Choosing between these seasons is difficult, but throw in an Art Ross Trophy and a perfect playoff run to a Stanley Cup title and it makes sense that the 1951-52 season stands out as Mr. Hockey's best and one of the best individual seasons ever. In 1951-52, Howe was the leading producer on the "Production Line," playing alongside Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay. Howe finished the season with a league-best 47 goals and added 39 assists to capture the scoring title by 17 points over Lindsay. In the postseason, Howe and the Wings dominated, winning eight straight games. Howe scored twice in his Stanley Cup finals debut.

Finish Reading the List

Florida: Giuliani Leads by 5

South Carolina: McCain Takes 3 pt Lead Over Huckabee

South Carolina: Obama Leads by Double Digits

Michigan: McCain Leads Romney by 9

For the 2008 Republican Presidential Nomination whom would you support? (Republicans Only)
John McCain 29%
Mitt Romney 20%
Mike Huckabee 18%
Rudy Giuliani 13%
Fred Thompson 5%
Ron Paul 5%
Duncan Hunter 1%
Undecided 9%

John Kerry: Obama Gets Blueblood's Endorsement

Britains Shame: Majority Fall For 'Global Warming' Lie

Do you believe man-made global warming is threatening the planet?

Yes	62%
No	25%
Don’t know	13%

Will you change your life to help curb climate change in 2008 by doing any of the following? [Please tick all that apply.]

Recycling more	76%
Driving less	27%
Avoiding food that has been imported by plane	26%
Taking fewer holidays	14%
No, I won’t change my behaviour	20%

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,566 British adults, conducted from Dec. 20 and Dec. 27, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

Israel: Supports Killing Qassam Terrorists

Do you support or oppose escalating the policy of targeted killings of those who fire Qassams or their dispatchers?

Support	81.0%
Oppose	11.5%
Not sure	7.5%

Nationwide: Huckabee, Giuliani, McCain Clustered at Top

Jan. 6	Dec. 16	Dec. 2
Mike Huckabee	25%	16%	16%
Rudy Giuliani	20%	27%	25%
John McCain	19%	14%	15%
Fred Thompson	12%	14%	15%
Mitt Romney	9%	14%	12%
Ron Paul	4%	3%	4%
Duncan Hunter	1%	--	1%
Alan Keyes	--	3%	n.a.
Tom Tancredo	n.a.	1%	1%
Other	2%	--	1%
No opinion	9%	9%	10%

Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 399 Republicans and Republican leaners, conducted from Jan. 4 to Jan. 6, 2008. Margin of error is 5 per cent.

US Opinion of Presidential Election Process

Good thing or bad thing?

	Good	Neither	Bad
The nominations are determined by a series of state primaries and caucuses	57%	26%	16%
The caucuses and primaries begin in January of the election year	49%	27%	22%
The parties’ 2008 nominees for president will probably be known by early February	45%	18%	36%
Iowa’s caucus and New Hampshire’s primary are always the first two contests	26%	44%	28%
The nominees are usually determined before many states have held their primary or caucus	11%	17%	71%

Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,008 American adults, conducted from Dec. 10 to Dec. 13, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Video: Getting Punk'd in Afghanistan

Anchor Breaks News to Father That Missing Son & Other Snowmobilers Found Alive

Sweden Being Wiped Out by Muslim Migration

Immigration Will Damage Scottish Schools

Man Cooked Murdered Girlfriend

The image “http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ap_mccuin_080107_ms.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

New Hampshire: McCain Leads Romney by 7

Iranian Boats Provoke US Warships

Italians Dislike Prodi's Government

How much confidence do you have in the government of Romano Prodi?

A lot of confidence	6.5%
Some confidence	19.8%
Little confidence	30.3%
No confidence at all	42.9%

Source: Arnaldo Ferrari Nasi / Il Giornale
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 650 Italian adults, conducted on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, 2007. No margin of error was provided.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

9 Christians Murdered by Hindus in India

London Times: Hillary in a Panic

GOP Debate Transcript

From ABC News:

GIBSON: Good evening. I am Charlie Gibson from ABC News. And along with our partners in tonight's debate, our station here in New Hampshire, WMUR, and the popular Facebook Web site, I welcome you to what is a unique occasion. This is going to be a chance to hear from all the leading presidential candidates in both parties in one night.
We have two debates -- the Republican debate, then the Democratic debate -- coming within moments of one another. And tonight we have one mission. That is to give voters a better idea of the candidates, their principles, their characters, their positions on the issues.
Now, we set some criteria for these debates which we felt were highly inclusive. The top four finishers in Iowa, plus any candidate with 5 percent support in an established New Hampshire or national poll. They only had to have 5 percent support in any one of eight polls.
Now, that resulted in invitations being issued yesterday to six Republicans -- Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson -- as well as four Democrats -- Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama and Bill Richardson -- all of whom will join us tonight.
GIBSON: Now, the candidates have debated often, and they have taken an awful lot of questions. So we have tried to fashion a format in which they will talk more to one another.
We're going to take the first 45 minutes of each debate, and for 15 minutes each, I will put three topics on the table and then, to the extent possible, sort of stay out of the way.
There are no lights that will limit the length the candidates can speak for that portion of the debate, but I will keep them move on, interrupting, I hope not impolitely.
It is my hope -- and I've expressed this to the candidates' camps -- that their discussion will be lively, informative, will point out the differences they have on the issues being discussed, and that they will talk to one another.
For the second half of each debate, I'll be joined by Scott Spradling. He's political director of WMUR, and we will have questions in a more traditional format.
GIBSON: We have an audience here at St. Anselm of about 500 people. And I've asked them to refrain from applause to keep the discussions going without interruption.
So with that, we will spend a few minutes getting ready for the first debate.
And I will turn things over, for the moment, to my colleagues Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos.
SAWYER: And good evening to you, Charlie.
It is so exciting just to see the high stakes arena where the candidates are about to appear. They're waiting off-stage. They'll be getting their microphones checked.
And George Stephanopoulos and I were talking about the human endurance that it takes to come to this pivotal moment.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Diane, these guys must be running on fumes right now. They have been going for 10, 15 days straight, on three, four hours of sleep a night.
Yet, because this debate is so important, only three days before New Hampshire, they have to be at the top of their game tonight.
SAWYER: And most of them had nine, 10 appearances already today.
But we have some news for you tonight. Some real caucus votes -- more caucus votes -- coming in from Wyoming.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's right.
On the Republican side, Mitt Romney has had a big win today. There was a caucus on Wyoming. He won more than 70 percent of the votes, almost all of the delegate stake; a good moral victory for him after that loss in Iowa.
SAWYER: And we also have a brand new poll out tonight from our New Hampshire affiliate, WMUR, cosponsors of tonight's debate. So here's how it looks for these candidates as they poll tonight, as they gather.
For the Democrats, Senator Clinton and Senator Obama are in a dead heat, tied at 33 percent each; John Edwards gaining a bit with 20 percent; and Bill Richardson in fourth with 4 percent.
Senator Obama, of course, gained some ground, moved up about 3 percent at this point in the story.
STEPHANOPOULOS: He did.
And on the Republican side, John McCain is moving up as well. He's now at 33 percent, leading by 6 points over Mitt Romney at 27 percent. Rudy Giuliani holding onto third place at 14 percent, ahead of Mike Huckabee at 11 percent, who, of course, won those caucuses in Iowa just this Thursday night.
SAWYER: And we want everybody out there to know that throughout the night we'll be checking in with our pros at ABC News standing by in the spin room, so named because the candidates' teams flood the room, trying to shape tomorrow's headlines.
And we also have the instant views of all Americans on Facebook, the popular Web site with more than 60 million active users. And Charlie's going to be using questions from the site tonight as well.
ABC's Bianna Golodryga at our Facebook command center.
Bianna?
GOLODRYGA: Good evening, Diane.
Already, more than 1 million people have activated the U.S. politics application on Facebook right now. We already know that there are hundreds of thousands of people taking part in debates. They're answering questions that we've thrown at them, real-time questions for them to answer.
And it's so easy. We invite all of you to participate throughout the evening as well.
Here's what you do. You go to abcnews.com, and you click on politics. Then click on the Facebook button, and you join the debate.
And while the presidential candidates debate on television, Americans can join the debate online and get real-time, behind-the- scenes updates from our reporters who are tracking all of the candidates live.
Diane, we will be updating this throughout the night, checking in with all of our debaters and getting back to you.
SAWYER: All right. A giant conversation taking place tonight.
And you should know, by the way, that we will not be using Facebook to declare winners or losers tonight. You and the voters of New Hampshire are going to do that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: We did want to get a sense of what the voters of New Hampshire are thinking, so went out in the streets and the snowy hills and got a sense of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNKNOWN): National security is the issue that I'm most concerned about. That's going to affect my family and my children. Yes, I mean, security is everything to me.
(UNKNOWN): The rising cost of health care. I want to make sure that everyone is covered, but I want to come up with a good plan that works for everyone.
(UNKNOWN): I have no problem with the legal immigrants, but the illegals, I would just like to see the candidates expand more on it and be firm on it.
(UNKNOWN): Being a fisherman, I think that the fuel prices for a lot of working people is one of the major things that I'm concerned about.
(UNKNOWN): My son is in the military. He's done almost his four years in the Marines. I'd like to have somebody say a good plan on how to get us out of there, instead of just promises on what they could do or they should do.
(UNKNOWN): What are you going to do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAWYER: And a reminder that tonight's debates are not just about policy, but the real lives of Americans.
So coming into the debates, what about Iowa? Let's review what happened there.
Former Governor Mike Huckabee ruled the day with 34 percent; a decisive win over Mitt Romney, who took 25 percent. Fred Thompson, John McCain tied for third with 13 percent each. And that was it for the Republicans.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And that shows, I mean, it gives us a good sense of what they have on the line tonight -- what the candidates have on the line tonight, Diane.
And I think because Mitt Romney came in second in Iowa, he's got the most on the line tonight. His whole strategy was predicated on winning in Iowa, winning here in New Hampshire.
And he's got one job to do tonight. That is, to stop John McCain, who has the momentum right now. He's going to try to paint McCain as a creature of Washington.
For McCain, he's got to remind people what they loved about him eight years ago. Remember...
SAWYER: He was the maverick, won big: 19 percentage points?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Won big. He beat George Bush big here eight years ago. Lost his mojo last year but it's coming back right now. He's going to emphasize national security.
For the winner in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, this is not a home field for him. Not a lot of social conservatives, evangelicals here, so he's just got to make no mistakes.
Rudy Giuliani has to get back in the game. He tried in New Hampshire but he fell back in November. He's got to do something big to make sure that Mike Huckabee doesn't pass him.
SAWYER: All right, George, thanks to you.
Well, it is time for the great debate to begin. Let's go to Charlie Gibson at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Charlie?
GIBSON: Thanks very much, Diane.
And we have been joined on the stage by the six leading Republican candidates for the Republican nomination for president. And I want to introduce them to you from left to right.
The positions in which they sit were drawn by lot, and so let me introduce them from left to right: Senator John McCain from the state of Arizona, former Senator Fred Thompson from Tennessee, Congressman Ron Paul from Texas, former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, former Governor Mike Huckabee from Arkansas, and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani from the city of New York.
And, gentlemen, just at the risk of being repetitive, I hope you will take the questions posed in these first 45 minutes and I hope, to the extent we can, discuss them among yourselves.
GIBSON: This is not about me asking questions, as I told the national audience a few moments ago, but about you talking to one another, pointing up the differences between yourselves.
I hope you will think of this as sort of a semi-circular dining room table. We were a little chintzy on the food, but I hope you will look at it that way.
(LAUGHTER)
I thank you all for being here and I genuinely look forward to this, so let us begin. And I'll start the stop-watch.
President Bush said in his end-of-the-year news conference, "During the primaries and during the general election I suspect my name may come up a lot." So let's bring it up.
I want to start with foreign policy. Just to set some context, we've got a little background here from ABC's Jonathan Karl.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN KARL, ABC CORRESPONDENT: When he was on the debate stage eight years ago...
GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH, R-TX: If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us. If we're a humble nation...
KARL: ... candidate George Bush promised a humble foreign policy.
After September 11, a new Bush doctrine: the United States would hit its enemies before they hit us.
KARL: Hence, the Iraq war.
On terrorism, President Bush told the world you're either with us or you're against us. With the second term, an even bolder vision.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: With the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KARL: Sounding like Woodrow Wilson, the president vowed to push for democracy everywhere.
There are exceptions. Support for Musharraf in Pakistan, for example, and the nuclear deal offered to North Korea.
From the axis of evil to nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush policy has been bold but not exactly humble.
Charlie?
GIBSON: So, let me start with a general question: If you are the nominee, will you run on the Bush foreign policy record, or will you run away from it?
And, Governor Huckabee, let me start with you, because it was you who wrote that the Bush foreign policy reflects an arrogant bunker mentality.
HUCKABEE: And when I made those statements, I was speaking to the fact that there were times when we gave the world the impression that we were going to ignore what they thought or what they felt, and we were going to do whatever it is we wanted to do.
And the fact is, we're going to do what is best for the American people. And as president, I will always act in the best interest of our country.
But I'll always try to make sure that we're the strongest nation on Earth, the most powerful, the most prepared, but also the one that uses that strength in a very, very understanding way of making sure that when we use the strength we use it with full understanding of the implications of it.
Let me just finish the thought, Charlie, if I may.
There were times when the arrogance was reflected, for example, in the former defense secretary who, despite getting advice from the Defense Department that we would need 400,000 troops to be able to successfully bring stability to Iraq, insisted that we would only use 180,000 troops and we would go in with a light footprint.
HUCKABEE: And there was one particular statement that he made that I found especially troubling. He said, "We don't go to war with the army that we want; we go to war with the army that we have."
I felt that the proper way for us to approach this is we don't go to war with the army we have, we go to war with the army that we need, and we make sure that we have what we need before we go to war, including a clear definition of what we're going to do, irresistible force when we do it, and once we do it, we don't let the politicians interfere or interrupt the battlefield decisions of the commanders with blood on their boots and medals on their chest.
GIBSON: Senator Thompson?
THOMPSON: Well, I think that maybe the governor has rethought his comments that he made about an arrogant foreign policy, because it seems now what he's saying is that we were arrogant because we didn't go in with enough troops.
THOMPSON: I think that's kind of a different impression than the one that he originally sought to leave.
I don't think our foreign policy has been arrogant. Presidents are not perfect; policies are not perfect.
But the bottom line is, we are in a global war with radical Islam. They declared on us -- war on us a long, long time ago. We took note, really, for the first time on September 11 of 2001.
We must do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves.
We weren't considered to be arrogant in Afghanistan when we went in there and won that conflict.
I agree that we made a mistake in terms of going into Iraq as far as the number of troops are concerned. And I think a flawed strategy also. I think that's been rectified now. And I think we're on the -- on the way to prevailing there.
And because we are prevailing there, I think it's going to be for a safer United States of America.
GIBSON: Mayor Giuliani, would you run on the president's foreign policy record or away from it?
GIULIANI: I think you run on your foreign policy ideas, theories and policies, which I've laid out in articles.
And I think the president got the big decision of his presidency right: the big decision that he made on September 20th, 2001, when he put us on offense against Islamic terrorism. And I give him great credit for that. Because we had been dealing with Islamic terrorism incorrectly up until then. We had been on defense. We had been responding.
The president set a whole different mindset. It was: Let's anticipate, let's see if we can prevent another attack.
That led to Afghanistan, it led to Iraq, it's led to the Patriot Act, it's led to electronic surveillance, it's led to changing our intelligence services. All that is very, very good.
Mistakes have also been made. Mistakes were made particularly in the period of time after the capture of Saddam Hussein and, now, a year ago, when we got to the surge policy.
GIBSON: Well, let me bring up...
GIULIANI: And...
GIBSON: I'm sorry. Go ahead.
GIULIANI: ... if I may add, I think one of the things that would help answer some of the issues that have come up is, we should increase the size of our military.
Bill Clinton cut the military drastically. It was called the peace dividend, one of those nice-sounding phrases: very devastating. It was a 25, 30 percent cut in the military.
President Bush has never made up for that. Our Army had been at 725,000; it's down to 500,000. We need at least 10 more combat brigades. We need our Marines at 200,000. We need a 300-ship Navy.
This president should do it now. If I'm president, I'll do it immediately.
GIBSON: Let me just ratchet up the question slightly and ask you if you believe in the Bush doctrine.
Because in September 2002 -- up for years, our foreign policy has been based on the idea that we form alliances, international consensus. We attack -- retaliate if we're attacked.
But in 2002, the president said we have a right to a pre-emptive attack, that we can attack if this country feels threatened.
GIBSON: And on that basis, WMD, we went into Iraq. We've cited the threat of a nuclear Iran to leave the military option on the table.
Do you agree with the doctrine, Senator McCain, if you were president, or would you change it?
MCCAIN: I agree with the doctrine.
And I'd also like to give President Bush a little credit, as we have this discussion.
Right after 9/11, every expert in the world said there would be another attack on the United States of America. There hasn't been.
Now, maybe that's all by accident. But if there had been, I think it's very clear where the responsibility would have been placed. So I think we ought to give him credit for that.
We went through the greatest reorganization of government since the creation of the Defense Department and the creation of the Defense -- Department of Homeland Security.
And America is safer. America is not safe; America is safer.
MCCAIN: I'd like to give the president some credit for that.
Now, I strongly disagreed with the strategy employed by Secretary Rumsfeld.
And by the way, I'm the only one here that disagreed at the time, and I'm the only one at the time that said we've got to employ a new strategy and outlined what it was, which is the Petraeus strategy.
I said at the time I had no confidence in the then-secretary of defense.
But we are succeeding now in Iraq. And the fact is as we blame the president for the failed strategy, we should give him credit for changing the strategy and changing the leadership so that we now have I think one of the finest military leaders in American history in David Petraeus.
So, look, I think we've got enormous challenges ahead of us. I think the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is radical Islamic extremists.
And the way, I'd like to give my friend the mayor for the great job that he did after 9/11 and the way that he and the president rallied this nation.
MCCAIN: But I know how to lead, I've been involved in these issues, and I know how to solve them.
GIBSON: Congressman Paul, let me ask you, do you agree with the Bush doctrine, or would you change it?
PAUL: Well, I certainly agreed with his foreign policy that he ran on and that we, as Republicans, won in year 2000. You know, the humble foreign policy, no nation building, don't be the policeman of the world.
And we were strongly critical of the policy of the Clinton administration that did the opposite and we fell short. Of course, the excuse is that 9/11 changed everything.
But the Bush doctrine of preemptive war is not a minor change; this is huge. This is the first time we, as a nation, accept as our policy that we start the wars. I don't understand this.
And that all options are on the table to go after Iran?
This is not necessary. These are Third World nations. They're not capable.
But I think it's the misunderstanding or the disagreements that we've had in this debate along the campaign trail is the nature of the threat.
PAUL: I'm as concerned about the nature of the threat of terrorism as anybody, if not more so. But they don't attack us because we're free and prosperous.
And there all radicals in all elements, in all religions that will resort to violence. But if we don't understand that the reaction is, is because we invade their countries and occupy their countries, we have bases in their country -- and we haven't done it just since 9/11, but we have done that a long time.
I mean, it was the Air Force base in Saudi Arabia before 9/11 that was given as the excuse.
If we don't understand that, we can't win this war against terrorism.
GIBSON: You can break in here, Governor Romney.
ROMNEY: Well, unfortunately, Ron, you need a thorough understanding of what radical jihad is, what the movement is, what its intent is, where it flows from. And the fact is that it's trying to bring down not just us, but it's trying to bring down all moderate Islamic governments, Western governments around the world, as we just saw in Pakistan.
ROMNEY: But let's step back with regards to the president.
The president is not arrogant. The president does not subject -- or is not subject to a bunker mentality. The president has acted out of his desire to keep America safe.
And we owe him a debt of gratitude for keeping this country safe over the last six years.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Let me continue with my own thoughts on the issue of do we follow his policy or create a new one.
He did the right thing in responding and reacting to the fact that we got attacked. And people now recognize: You attack America and there is a response.
But we're going to have to move our strategy from simply being a respond to military threat with military action to an effort that says we're going to use our military and nonmilitary resources -- nonmilitary resources -- combined with other nations who are our friends to help move the world of Islam toward modernity and moderation.
It's something that former Prime Minister Aznar of Spain spoke about. The new mission for NATO and for other nations is to help provide the rule of law, education that's not through madrassas, agricultural and economic policies that can be instilled in various Islamic countries, so the Muslims are able to reject the extreme and the terrorists.
ROMNEY: We can help them. Our military's going to be needed.
We do need -- I agree with what the mayor said -- we need to add to our military by at least 100,000 troops. But the answer is to move now to a second phase, a phase of helping Muslims become so strong they can reject the extreme.
THOMPSON: Charlie, is this subject still open?
GIBSON: Sure.
THOMPSON: Can we comment on that?
I served on the Intelligence Committee in the Senate. I was the floor manager for the Republicans on the homeland security bill, so I have a bit of a different vantage point than some of my colleagues on this.
The question had to do with preemption.
Preemption didn't just appear one day as a good idea. After the Cold War, we had one big enemy and one big weapon against us. When we, kind of, took a holiday from history in the 1990s and let our military slide and our intelligence capability slide, the world was changing. We now have multiple enemies. We now have terrorists and terrorist groups, Al Qaida, rogue nations in different stages of developing nuclear weapons.
THOMPSON: We must be prepared for the different kind of weaponry that we're facing. We could be attacked with a biological weapon and not even know it for a long period of time. This is a different world.
So, instead of mutual assured destruction, which we lived under for a long time, it's now a world where preemption has got to be an option under the right circumstances.
GIBSON: So you would keep the Bush policy?
THOMPSON: Things that happen on the other side of the world sometimes can affect us, such as perhaps Pakistan.
We should only go in where we should and where we're able to.
GIBSON: Let me...
GIULIANI: Charlie?
GIBSON: Yeah, go ahead.
GIULIANI: Just make one point.
Ron's analysis is really seriously flawed. The idea that the attack took place because of American foreign policy is precisely the reason I handed back a $10 million check to a Saudi prince who gave me the money at ground zero for the twin towers fund and then put out a press release saying America should change its foreign policy.
GIULIANI: It seems to me, if you don't face this squarely -- there's an Islamic, terrorism threat against us. It's an existential threat. It has nothing to do with our foreign policy. It has to do with their ideas, their theories, the things that they have done and the way they've perverted their religion into a hatred of us.
And what's at stake are the things that are best about us: our freedom of religion, our freedom for women, our right to vote, our free economic system.
Our foreign policy is irrelevant -- totally irrelevant. If you read what they write, if you bother to listen to what they say, this comes out of their own perverted thinking.
PAUL: Charlie?
GIBSON: Go ahead.
PAUL: Let me try to explain so you can understand this better.
Try to visualize how we would react if they did that to us, if a country, say China, came that great distance across the ocean, and they say, "We want you to live like us. We want you to have our economic system. We want bases on your land. We want to protect our oil."
Even if we do that with good intentions -- even if the Chinese did that with good intentions, we would all be together and we'd be furious.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Ron, you're reading their propaganda. You're reading their propaganda.
PAUL: What would you do if the Chinese...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: I'd read their writings.
PAUL: What would you do?
ROMNEY: I'd read what they write to one another. And that's why when someone like Sayyid Qutb lays out the philosophy of radical jihadism and says, "We want to kill..."
PAUL: And what you're saying...
ROMNEY: Let me complete.
Wants to kill Anwar Sadat, when there's the assassination of Anwar Sadat, it has nothing to do with us.
The reason -- why did they kill Madam Bhutto? It has nothing to do with us. This has to do with a battle that is going on within the world of Islam, of radical, violent jihadists trying to bring down all moderate Islamic people and nations and replace them with a religious caliphate.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: And we are doing our very best to help support the voices of moderation.
They tried it in the Philippines.
THOMPSON: Who have we invaded before 9/11?
PAUL: We were occupying...
THOMPSON: Occupying?
PAUL: We had an air base in Saudi Arabia.
THOMPSON: A base? (CROSSTALK)
PAUL: We have propped up -- how many governments have we propped up?
GIBSON: Just before we -- before we stop, Governor, I owe you a few seconds. Because you -- somebody said, no, Senator Thompson said we're not arrogant, we're not bunker mentality.
(CROSSTALK)
HUCKABEE: Well, and those words -- first of all, Governor Romney, you, yourself on "60 Minutes" said that we had left Iraq in a mess. You've also said that you weren't going to have this "my way or no way" philosophy.
And I've been attacked for using the words: a policy that had an arrogance and bunker mentality. I didn't say the president was. I supported the president in the war before you did. I supported the surge when you didn't.
I'm not a person who is out there taking cheap shots at the president. I worked really hard to get him elected.
But I'm not running for George Bush's third term. I want to be president of the United States on my own terms.
And I think it's important for us to recognize...
ROMNEY: Charlie, I get to respond to that.
HUCKABEE: Let me finish this. When Congressman...
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL: ... I get a chance to respond.
(CROSSTALK)
HUCKABEE: The fact is when there is a serious threat to this country, it is not a threat because we happen to be peace-loving people. It's a threat because in the heart of the radical Islamic faith -- not all Islam, and that's what's very important.
This isn't an Islamic problem. This is a jihadist problem. This is an Islamo-fascism problem.
And if you read the writings of those who most influenced -- and Governor Romney mentioned Sayyid Qutb, executed in Egypt in 1966. He is one of the major philosophers behind this.
And the fact is, there is nothing about our attacking them that prompts this. They are prompted by the fact they believe that they must establish a worldwide caliphate that has nothing to do with us other than we live and breathe and their intention is to destroy us.
GIBSON: Very quickly. You after Governor Romney.
ROMNEY: A number of things.
I disagree with the governor writing in Foreign Affairs magazine that the president's administration suffers from an arrogant bunker mentality.
HUCKABEE: Did you read the article before you commented on it?
ROMNEY: I did read the article, the whole article. I read the entire article and I thought it was -- well, I won't make any further comments. It was not...
(CROSSTALK)
HUCKABEE: Before you commented on it?
ROMNEY: Before -- I got a copy of the article and read the article. And in the headline of the article, it said, "The Bush..."
MCCAIN: Did you read mine?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: No, no, hold on.
John, no, I didn't. Sorry. But I read his.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: And number two...
(UNKNOWN): What about mine?
ROMNEY: Number two -- number two, I did support the surge. It was Senator McCain, of all of us, who was out fighting for the surge. He right on that.
On the same day the president announced the surge, I also, having spoken that day with Fred Kagan, who's one of the brilliant theorists in this regard, I laid out my plan that I thought made sense -- actually even before the president's speech -- calling for additional troops. I called for a different number.
So I also supported the surge from the very beginning.
ROMNEY: But, look, you know, Governor, don't try and characterize my position. Of course, this war...
HUCKABEE: Which one?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: You know, we're wise to talk about policies and not to make personal attacks.
HUCKABEE: Well, it's not a personal attack, Mitt, because you also supported a timed withdrawal. And Senator Pryor from my state...
ROMNEY: No, that's...
HUCKABEE: ... was praising you for that, and...
ROMNEY: I do not support and have never supported a timed withdrawal, so that's wrong, Governor.
You know, it's really helpful if you talk about your policies and the things you believe, and let me talk about my policies.
And my policy is, I've never talked about a timed withdrawal with a date certain for us to leave. That's not the case. Simply wrong.
I've also supported the troop surge, Governor, and I supported it on the same day the president brought it forward.
And the critical thing here is for us to stand together and to say, "I think we do agree with the troop surge. We believe that the troops surge is going to make an enormous difference for the world and protect us from the establishment of safe havens from which Al Qaida could launch attacks against us."
GIBSON: Very quickly.
PAUL: There's always a radical element in almost all religions. They have to have an incentive. We give them that incentive.
The question that you don't -- aren't willing to ask is, why is it that they attack America? I mean, they don't attack the Canadians. They don't attack the Swiss. If it were merely because they wanted to go into Europe, why do they...
(CROSSTALK) ROMNEY: Is it such a puzzle?
ROMNEY: Is it such a mystery as to why they attack America?
PAUL: It is...
ROMNEY: They're not going after Luxembourg.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: It is because we've gone six...
GIULIANI: Ron, Ron...
ROMNEY: We're the strongest nation in the world.
PAUL: We have...
GIULIANI: Ron, it's simply not true.
Islamic terrorists killed over 500 Americans before September 11, 2001, going back to the late 1960s. They have also killed people recently in Bali, in London. They have launched attacks in Germany.
(UNKNOWN): Madrid.
GIULIANI: Where did the attack on the Munich Olympics take place: in the United States, or did it take place in Germany?
GIBSON: All right. Let me stop this...
GIULIANI: I could go on and on. The attack on Leon Klinghoffer.
Islamic terrorists have attacked us...
PAUL: You paint all Islamics...
GIULIANI: ... and our allies all over the world...
PAUL: ... the same way, and this is a dangerous thing...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: No, of course not.
GIBSON: Gentlemen...
PAUL: What you're doing is damaging our relationship by destroying our relationship with all Muslims. That's what you're doing.
GIULIANI: I do not.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: Charlie, you started it.
(LAUGHTER)
GIBSON: I did start it. Yes, I did.
GIULIANI: Charlie, you wanted a free-for-all.
It is important to make this point. Just the opposite, Ron. I have great respect for the Islamic religion. I have great respect for the Arab world, for the Middle East.
I think we should be closer to them. I think we should trade more with them. I think we should have cultural exchanges with them.
The overwhelming majority of the Islamic world...
PAUL: Why do we support their dictators, then? Why do we prop up all their dictators?
GIBSON: (inaudible)
GIULIANI: ... and on the evening of September 11, 2001, the day my city was attacked, I got on television, and I said to the people of my city, "We're not going to engage in group blame. This is a small group of people. This does not typify a great religion and a great people."
GIULIANI: I do not accept that criticism.
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: I'm going to move on to domestic policy. And I'm going to violate a promise that I made to all of your campaigns.
I promised that we wouldn't do any questions on video tape, questions from somebody outside this room. But I'm going to violate it with a question from the president of the United States, who posed a question that I think is important about all of you, posed a question at his last news conference about what he thought candidates ought to be as they ran.
GIBSON: Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: You can't be the president unless you have a firm set of principles to guide you as you sort through all the problems the world faces.
And I would be very hesitant to support somebody who relied upon opinion polls and focus groups to define a way forward for a president.
It is -- and so, my question, if I were asking questions to people running for office, what are the principles that you will stand on, in good times and bad times? What would be the underpinning of your decisions?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIBSON: What are the principles, and are they constant?
GIBSON: You all have been questioning, as I've watched you campaign, you've all been questioning your opponents.
And I'm going to ask, Senator McCain, you and Governor Romney, because you two have been going at each other, in interviews and in ads about this, of the constancy of your principles or whether or not you look to opinion polls and focus groups to make up your minds.
So let me have the two of you dialogue with each other about this and answer the president's questions, and then I'll bring the other four in and give them equal time.
MCCAIN: The principles and philosophy that I hold, I have held since I raised my hand at age 17 as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy to uphold this nation's honor; to serve it; call Americans to sacrifice and serve for their nation and defend the greatest nation in the history of the world.
Now we need to restore trust and confidence in government. Now we are in a titanic, transcendent struggle of the 21st century, which we have been discussing earlier.
MCCAIN: I believe that for the last 20 years, I've been engaged in every major national security issue that has affected this nation. And I have been involved in many of the decisions as to how those are handled.
And I again say that I'm glad to know that now everybody supported the surge.
I said at the time that General Petraeus and his strategy must be employed, and I was criticized by Republicans at that time. And that was a low point, but I stuck to it. I didn't change. I didn't say we needed a secret plan for withdrawal.
I said that we can prevail, and as General Petraeus has said, this is the central front in the battle against radical Islamic extremists. We are succeeding.
And I will believe that if we had done what the Democrats had wanted to do, Al Qaida would be trumpeting to the world that they defeated the United States of America.
So my principles and my philosophy are those embodied in those words that we believe that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights.
MCCAIN: I will defend those. I believe in them. And I believe America's best days are ahead of us.
ROMNEY: Charlie, when I sat down with my family and had the discussion about whether or not to get into this race, we went around the room and each one of my five sons and five daughters-in-law expressed their views. And it's because of them and because of my concern about the future of America that I'm in this race.
I'm convinced that America is the greatest nation on Earth, that we are a good nation and a strong nation. And we are safe and prosperous in part because of our greatness and our strength.
I'm concerned, though, right now, we face challenges of such an unprecedented nature that unless we deal with them honestly and effectively, America will become less of a nation than it needs to be to preserve the peace here and the peace around the world.
ROMNEY: And I believe it's essential for America to stand for principles of an eternal nature.
I think at the heart of our strength is the family. I don't think there's anything more important to the future of America than the work that's going on within the four walls of the American home.
I think we have to strengthen America's families. I think we have to have good schools and good health care for them, moms and dads tending to the needs of kids, that we have to have better schools and better health care.
I believe, also, that this nation has to have a strong and vibrant economy. I don't think we can lead the world unless we have the leading economy. And finally a strong military to keep us safe.
So, my overriding principle is keeping America the strongest nation on earth. And there'll be a lot of choices and pulls and tugs in different directions, but keeping America strong through all those elements, through our families and our values, through our economy and its vibrancy, and through our military, is what is essential to me for the future of this land.
GIBSON: All right. Let me turn to Mayor Giuliani.
I must say, you don't sound like two guys who've been sniping at one another over and over in your ads and interviews.
(LAUGHTER)
You sound different.
Mayor Giuliani?
GIULIANI: I think what the president had in mind is that at the core of leadership is knowing what you believe, standing for something.
Ronald Reagan was my hero in that respect. I wrote about it in my book, "Leadership." And I think one of the things President Bush was getting at is that too many people in politics today put their finger up and go with the poll.
You know, you can see it in some of our Democratic colleagues, changing their position...
GIBSON: But let me interrupt you for...
GIULIANI: What do I stand for?
I laid out 12 commitments to the American people. I wrote them out. The first one is the most important: keeping this country on offense in the Islamic terrorist war against us.
The rest of them lay out what I believe this country has to do over the next four years. That would be my guidepost. If I'm elected president, I'll put that card on my desk. And every day I will try to accomplish it.
End illegal immigration. Solve health care through private options. Reduce taxes. Reduce the size of government on the civilian side.
GIULIANI: Expand the military. Appoint strict constructionist judges.
These'll be the beliefs that I have, the way Ronald Reagan got elected to increase the size of the military, to reduce taxes.
GIBSON: Let me interrupt you for just a sec, because, with all due respect, many of your fellows here on this stage have said you'd had to moderate an awful lot of your views to get within the mainstream of the Republican Party, and that you don't believe now what you believed when you were a mayor.
Governor Huckabee, you've been accused of having been a tax-and- spend governor when you were in Arkansas and changing your beliefs now.
Governor Romney, I don't have to go into how many times they've told -- called you a flip-flopper in terms of issues and what you believed as governor of Massachusetts.
Congressman Paul, with respect to you, I don't know that you've changed much, except your party...
(LAUGHTER)
... because you were a Libertarian when you first ran for president.
Senator Thompson has been accused of running on a more conservative record for president than when he was in the Senate.
And, Senator McCain, you've been accused of moderating your views on the Bush tax policies in order to get into the mainstream of the party and on immigration, to moderate your views.
GIULIANI: Charlie, that's the reason why you lay out the things that you believe in.
GIULIANI: There are beliefs that you have that you're not going to vary from, no matter what the winds of change bring about. There are some that you are going to change.
Look at Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan had three prime goals: to increase the size of the military to win the Cold War, to reduce taxes and to reduce the deficit. He accomplished two of the three. The third one he wasn't able to accomplish, probably because the first two, in his view, were more important.
So of course you can't accomplish every single thing that you want. Over a period of time, your views on things are going to change. But if your essential philosophy stays the same, the way it did with Ronald Reagan, the way it did with our great presidents, that's what leadership is about.
GIBSON: Governor Huckabee?
HUCKABEE: Well, Charlie, I think the question the president was asking was not as much about our policies, because those can change with each generation, with each year, with each circumstances, but the principles -- what is it that's deep inside of us, that guide us, that direct us, that show the framework of what we're going to do?
And I think the simple answer for me is all the way back to the document that gave us birth.
HUCKABEE: And it goes like this: That we hold these truths to be self-evident, that we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, these being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that we are created equal.
In that sense of equality, the greatest principle is that every human being and every American is equal to each other. One person is not more equal because of his net worth or because of his I.Q. or because of his ancestry or last name.
That was a radical idea when those 56 signers put their names on that document, knowing that if their experiment in government didn't work, they were going to die for it.
Those are principles. Those are things that you'll live for, you'll die for. That sense that all of us have an essence of equality and that the primary purpose of a government is to recognize that those rights did not come from government, they came from God, they are to be protected, and then defined as the right to a life, the right to liberty -- our freedom -- to live our lives like we want to live them without government telling us how to do it. And ultimately, not to be happy, but to have the pursuit of happiness. That's our principles.
GIBSON: And I take your statement. It is an interesting statement of the basis that we all believe in this country.
GIBSON: But you started by saying: But we can change our policies -- -- how often did you say?
HUCKABEE: Our policies often reflect what's going on at the time. For example, if the primary thing we are facing is war, then we're going to be talking about military size and military might. If we have a problem with illegal immigration, the number one issue right now might be securing the borders.
I'm not saying we change our positions, but we change the policies in terms of the priority, but those principles don't change. The principles are still to make sure that we recognize the equality of each other and that we recognize where those rights come from and what those rights are.
GIBSON: Senator Thompson?
THOMPSON: Everyone has kind of a wish list. I think it's most important, though, that a president of the United States understand that our principles, our first principles are based on the Constitution of the United States -- understanding the nature of our government, the checks and the balances, the separation of powers that our founding fathers set up a long time ago.
THOMPSON: There's a reason for that. They knew about human nature. They learned from the wisdom of the ages.
They set the government up according to that. They set the powers out in the Constitution of the federal government, and they basically said if the powers aren't delineated in this document they don't exist.
And then we got the 10th Amendment that says if they're not delineated they belong to the people and to the states.
That's fundamental to everything else.
And then we grew from that, principles such as a dollar belongs in the pocket of the person that earned it, unless the government can make a case that it can spend it better. You don't spend money that you don't have, and you certainly don't spend your grandchildren's money with debt that they're not at the table when the decision has been made to spend it.
GIBSON: I'm going to run out of time on this, but I want to come back to that point.
Go ahead.
PAUL: The president asks a very important question. And we should all come together and we shouldn't have that many disagreements, because we should be bound -- bound by the Constitution.
But the people in this country think we live in an age of relative ethics, is what they have come to the conclusion of.
Sure, profess to believe in the Constitution, but why have we gone to war since World War II without a declaration of war? Why do we have a monetary system that is not designed by the Constitution? Why do we have a welfare state running out of control, not designed by the Constitution?
You can't pay lip service to the Constitution without obeying it.
And we should have peace and prosperity. That should be our goal.
We, in foreign policy, ought to have a golden rule. We ought to treat others as we would want others to treat us. And we don't treat others so fairly. We treat them like we're the bully, that we're the policeman of the world, and we're going to tell them to behave.
PAUL: If we don't -- if they don't listen to us, we bomb them. If they listen to us, we give them more money. And it's bankrupting this country because we don't live up to our principles, the principles that are embedded in our Constitution.
(APPLAUSE)
GIBSON: Let me turn for the next few moments to health care.
The Democrats have talked a lot about this, and they have spelled out some pretty specific health care plans.
But what you propose, what you have talked about in terms of health care, in many ways represents a more basic change in the way health insurance would be obtained.
A little background on that, ABC's medical editor, Dr. Tim Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TIM JOHNSON, ABC MEDICAL EDITOR: In general, Republicans have criticized Democratic proposals for health care reform as radical expansions of the federal government's role.
But many health care experts say that it is actually the Republicans' emphasis on individuals buying their own policies versus getting their insurance through employers that is a more radical change.
JOHNSON: And it raises concerns. Individual policies can be more expensive for the same coverage because of administrative overhead and sales costs.
Group policies like those provided by employers can bargain with providers for lower costs and do a better job of monitoring quality.
Medical professionals caution that individual insurance may sound good on paper but it usually turns out to be very difficult for people, on their own, to find quality policies at the right cost.
Charlie?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIBSON: All right. Dr. Tim Johnson, thanks very much.
We're the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't insure all of our citizens. If we can afford a trillion-dollar war in Iraq, why can't we afford medical insurance for everybody?
Governor -- Mayor -- Mr. Mayor?
GIULIANI: The reality is that, with all of its infirmities and difficulties, we have the best health care system in the world. And it may be because we have a system that still is, if not wholly, at least in large part still private.
To go in the direction that the Democrats want to go, much more government care, much more government medicine, socialized medicine, is going to mean a deteriorated state of medicine in this country.
GIULIANI: I mean, I said, jokingly, in one debate, if we go in the direction of socialized medicine, where will Canadians come for health care?
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: But do you all agree that we have the best health care system in the world?
MCCAIN: Now, tell me when people get sick where they come to to get health care.
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: We certainly have the best health care in the world.
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: Charlie, that doesn't mean it shouldn't be improved. And I think that the notion of people buying their own private health insurance is a very good one, so long as a lot of them do it.
Only 17 million Americans right now buy their own health insurance. If 50 million Americans were buying their own health insurance, because it would be just as tax advantageous to do it that way, and we had a health savings account, people -- economists believe there'd be a 30 percent to 50 percent reduction in the cost of health insurance, and quality would come up.
The only thing that reduces cost and increases quality is a significant, dramatic, large consumer market, not government control.
GIBSON: You all have proposed free market, consumer-purchased insurance. And you all talk about giving tax deductions for buying insurance.
Let me do a little math. The average family employer-provided insurance, when the company's buying, it's $13,000 a family.
Now, you talked about a $15,000 to $20,000 deduction -- right? -- for people buying their own insurance. If you take a median-income family of $62,000 in this country, you've just saved them $3,000 on their taxes. That doesn't come close to buying an insurance policy.
MCCAIN: Sure. And next year, if you continue 10 percent inflation associated with it, it'll be even further away. And the next year after that.
Because the problem with health care in America, it's not the quality. It is the inflation.
And in all due respect to your expert that we just saw, he's talking about the wrong aspect of this issue. The right aspect of this issue is inflation, if we could get it under control and get it reduced so that health care costs are reasonable in America, then those people will be able to afford it.
GIBSON: And to get health care costs...
MCCAIN: And they can -- and they will be able to go out and choose their insurer, anywhere in America, and they will be able to then to get affordable health care in America.
But we have to make the recipient of the health care more responsible. We have to have outcome-based results for health care. We have to emphasize wellness and fitness.
One of the most disturbing things in America is the increase in diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure amongst younger Americans. So we have to award wellness and fitness.
HUCKABEE (?): Charlie, I'm...
MCCAIN: And that way, we'll have a healthier nation and we will have less health care costs.
But, again, you made a statement about European nations, they all get health care. Well, some people here in New Hampshire have been to Canada. I don't think they want that system.
ROMNEY: A lot of people have ideas about health care and improving health care. We took the ideas and actually made them work in our state, as people in New Hampshire know. We put in place a plan that gets every citizen in our state health insurance, and it didn't cost us new money. And it didn't require us to raise taxes.
What we found was, it was less expensive or no more expensive to help individuals who had been uninsured by their own private policy than it had been for us to give out free care at the hospital.
And since we put our plan in place last April, we've now had 300,000 people who were uninsured sign up for this insurance, private insurance.
And where the doctor -- good doctor was wrong is that it's true the insurance companies don't want to sell policies to one person at a time. It's expensive.
We established what we called a connector, a place where individuals could go to buy policies from any company, and that connector would in turn send their premiums on to those companies.
So the economics of scale existed. And as a result of what we did, the premiums for health insurance for an individual buying insurance went from $350 a month to $180 a month, with lower deductibles and now with prescription drugs.
ROMNEY: The answer...
GIBSON: Anybody...
ROMNEY: Let me just -- I just -- I want to underline this.
We don't have to have government take over health care to get everybody insured. That's what the Democrats keep on hanging out there.
The truth is, we can get everybody insured in a free market way. We don't need Hillary-care or socialized medicine.
PAUL: Charlie, you really answered the question -- you answered it in your question, because you said, "How can we afford a trillion- dollar war and we can't afford health care?"
Well, that's the reason.
The resources are going overseas. We're fighting a trillion- dollar war and we shouldn't be doing it. Those resources should be spent back here at home.
There is an inflationary factor. We can't afford it. We do have good medical care, but the costs are so high now that our people in this country are actually going to India and getting their heart surgery done.
PAUL: They pay the plane ticket, the hospital and the hotel and they get it for half-price.
So it's inflation, but if you don't understand how inflation comes, we can't solve this problem. It comes from deficit financing with this war-mongering foreign policy we have. We run up the deficits. We tax. We borrow. We borrow from the Chinese. We can't borrow enough.
Then what do we do? We print the money, and then you wonder where the inflation comes. The value of the dollar is down and the prices go up, where the government gets involved in certain things like housing or medical care or education, prices are skyrocketing.
So you have to deal with the monetary issue to solve the problem of the medical issue.
GIBSON: Senator Thompson?
THOMPSON: Ahem.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: Don't print anymore money. We don't need anymore money.
THOMPSON: So if we would stop printing so much money, we could get out of the war and provide health care to everybody.
PAUL: Get out of the war, and we wouldn't have to print the money.
THOMPSON: OK. I just wanted to...
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: I wanted to make sure I had this right.
(LAUGHTER)
THOMPSON: Let me break it down a little bit so I can understand it a little bit better.
PAUL (?): Keep trying.
THOMPSON: We've got the best health care in the world. It costs more than it should.
We can either go one of two ways.
We can let the government take it over, and that'll lower costs, like they do in other countries. We will also sacrifice care, which nobody wants to do -- we're not going to do, in this country.
Or we can make the markets work more efficiently. There are a lot of components to that. Part of that is not just giving a tax break to the individual. That's part of it. But it's also putting them in a position to get the best prices for the care they're getting.
We do that in every other aspect of our life. That's what keeps prices as low as they are.
THOMPSON: I mean, if the consumer had no concept of what the product was costing and did no shopping for it, when you could get an MRI here for one price or over here for half the price, you don't even know that to make the choice. It wouldn't work at all.
So you can do that. You can open up these markets so a person can buy their insurance from all over the country. We've got various state regulations now, that, as a practical matter, prohibit that. Make the markets work.
But we're never -- let's be honest with the people. We're probably never -- if you lower costs, more people who want insurance will be able to afford it. We're probably never going to achieve total coverage.
A good number of the people who are uninsured can afford it and choose not to do so. A good number of people who are eligible for government assistance, and choose -- can manage and choose not to.
GIBSON: But Government Romney's system has mandates in Massachusetts, although you backed away from mandates on a national basis.
ROMNEY: No, no, I like mandates. The mandates work.
THOMPSON: I beg your pardon? I didn't know you were going to admit that. You like mandates.
ROMNEY: Let me -- let me -- oh, absolutely. Let me tell you what kind of mandates I like, Fred, which is this. If it weren't...
THOMPSON: The ones you come up with.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: Here's my view: If somebody -- if somebody can afford insurance and decides not to buy it, and then they get sick, they ought to pay their own way, as opposed to expect the government to pay their way.
ROMNEY: And that's an American principle. That's a principle of personal responsibility.
So, I said this: If you can afford to buy insurance, then buy it. You don't have to, if you don't want to buy it, but then you got to put enough money aside that you can pay your own way, because what we're not going to do is say, as we saw more and more people...
GIBSON: Governor, (inaudible) you imposed tax penalties in Massachusetts (inaudible).
ROMNEY: Yes, we said, look, if people can afford to buy it, either buy the insurance or pay your own way; don't be free-riders and pass on the cost to your health care to everybody else, because right now...
THOMPSON: The government is going to make you buy insurance...
ROMNEY: No, the government is going to stop...
THOMPSON: ,.. and make you pay -- I mean, the state -- your state plan, which is, of course, different from your national plan, did require people to make that choice, though. The state required them to do that.
What was the penalty if they refused?
ROMNEY: They refused to pay your -- let's go back, Fred. What's your view? If somebody...
THOMPSON: Well, I asked the question first.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: OK. Well, I'll answer your question, you answer mine.
ROMNEY: If somebody is making, let's say $100,000 a year, and doesn't have health insurance, and they show up at the hospital, and they need a $1,000 repair of some kind for something that's gone wrong. And they say, "Look, I'm not insured, I'm not going to pay." Do you think they should pay or not?
THOMPSON: Did your plan cut people off at $100,000? Was that the level?
ROMNEY: No, actually...
THOMPSON: Did it only apply to people with $100,000 income and over?
ROMNEY: It actually applies to people at three-times federal poverty. They pay for their own policy. At less than three-times federal poverty, we help them buy a policy, so everybody is insured, and everybody is able to buy a policy that is affordable for them.
The question is this, again, if someone could afford a policy and they choose not to buy it, should they be responsible for paying for their own care?
Or should they be able to go to the hospital and say, "You know what? I'm not insured. You ought to pay for it."
What we found was, one-quarter of the uninsured in my state were making $75,000 a year or more. And my view is they should either buy insurance or they should pay their own way with a health savings account or some other savings account.
GIBSON: We have an expression in television: We get in the weeds. We're in the weeds now on this.
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: Let me just -- one point. Yes or no, in your national plan, would you mandate people to get insurance?
ROMNEY: I think my plan is a good plan that should be adopted by other states. I wouldn't tell every state...
GIBSON: In your plan, would you mandate...
ROMNEY: I would not mandate at the federal level that every state do what we do. But what I would say at the federal level is, "We'll keep giving you these special payments we make if you adopt plans that get everybody insured." I want to get everybody insured.
GIBSON: OK.
ROMNEY: In Governor Schwarzenegger's state, he's got a different plan to get people insured. I wouldn't tell him he has to do it my way.
But I'd say each state needs to get busy on the job of getting all our citizens insured. It does not cost more money.
GIBSON: I want to give Governor Huckabee a little time. Then we've got to go.
HUCKABEE: OK.
I think it's important to realize that the issue is not just insurance. The issue is that the whole model of our health-care system is upside down.
We really don't have a health-care system. We have a disease- care system. And the insurance model that we use, we act like that if we insured everybody, we've fixed it.
We haven't. Because the real problem is that our model, both in the insurance model and the health-care model, waits until people are catastrophically ill before it intervenes.
HUCKABEE: And we really have to change the concept to a preventive focus rather than an intervention focus.
And that means the entire system starts working on health and wellness, because 80 percent of the $2 trillion that we spend on health care goes to chronic disease.
We could prevent it or we could cure it, but we don't. So it's not an issue of there's not enough money to cover people.
But if a real health care system exists, it has three components: It has affordability, it has quality, and it has accessibility.
And if it doesn't have those elements, it's not a system; it's a maze. And what we have in America is a health care maze. It's built on the idea that we wait until people are so desperately ill that the cost to try to fix them is catastrophic and out of control.
And no wonder we have a system that needs major, major attention.
And by the way, just out of due respect, you said $1,000 for a repair.
HUCKABEE: It's about $1,000 for a Kleenex at a hospital anymore.
(LAUGHTER)
And that's why we need to have a totally different system that keeps you from going to the hospital in the first place.
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: Charlie, a health savings account actually helps to accomplish what the governor is talking about.
If somebody can put aside -- and the plans that we've been talking about include a health savings account. You'd have an exemption up to $15,000. If you could find a policy for $11,000, you can have a $4,000 health savings account.
You would be able to buy some of your health care and your prevention yourself. It gives you an incentive over a lifetime to deal with wellness.
GIBSON: And I've got to go.
But Senator McCain has talked a lot about controlling costs, and you bring up the issue in controlling costs. And all the experts say to me, Look, if you're going to control costs, you got to do three things. You're going to limit access to technology, you're going to limit, in some way, change the reimbursement system for doctors and hospitals, or you're going to have to limit the amount of treatments. That's the only way we can bring costs down.
And that's the third rail of health care. Which of you is going to touch any of that?
HUCKABEE: Charlie, that's not at all the way it is. The fact is, if you had...
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: Yes, it was directed to you.
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: I think that there's additional choice here: a choice of having outcome-based treatment.
MCCAIN: There are five major diseases that consume 75 percent of health care costs in America. If someone has diabetes, we should give the health care provider a certain amount of money and say, "Care for that patient. And if, at the end of that period of time, and that patient is well, we'll give you a reward." Rather than every test, every procedure, every MRI.
And we need walk-in clinics, and we need community health care, and we need incentives for home health care as opposed to long-term care.
In my state of Arizona, we adopted a proposal which incentivizes health care providers to keep people in home health care settings -- dramatically less expensive than long-term care.
In Arizona, we have one-half the number, per capita, of people in long-term care facilities as the state of Pennsylvania.
Incentives to keep costs down, Charlie. There are no incentives in the system today.
Could I just mention one other thing? Both the attorney general of South Carolina -- I don't know why I mention South Carolina...
GIBSON: Because there's a primary there.
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: ... and the attorney general of Iowa -- and I don't -- well, anyway...
GIBSON: That's too late.
MCCAIN: ... have sued the pharmaceutical companies because of overcharging of millions of dollars of Medicaid costs to their patients.
MCCAIN: How could that happen? How could pharmaceutical companies be able to cover up the cost to the point where nobody knows? Why shouldn't we be able to reimport drugs from Canada?
It's because of the power of the pharmaceutical companies. We should have pharmaceutical companies competing to take care of our Medicare and Medicaid patients.
ROMNEY: OK, don't leave me. Don't send the pharmaceutical companies into the big bad guys.
MCCAIN: Well, they are.
ROMNEY: No, actually they're trying to create products to make us well and make us better, and they're doing the work of the free market.
And are there excesses? I'm sure there are, and we should go after excesses. But they're an important industry to this country.
But let me note something else, and that is the market will work. And the reason health care isn't working like a market right now is you have 47 million people that are saying, "I'm not going to play. I'm just going to get free care paid for by everybody else." That doesn't work.
Number two, the buyer doesn't have information about what the cost or quality is, or different choices they could have. If you take the government out of it to a much greater extent, you'd get it to work like a market and it will rein in cost.
GIBSON: I've got to call a halt. We're going to take a commercial break. We'll come back. I'm going to be joined by Scott Spradling from WMUR, and we're going to go to some more direct questions.
Stay with us: The Republican debate continues from Manchester.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIBSON: For the second 45 minutes of this debate, I'm going to be joined by Scott Spradling, who is political director of our station, WMUR, here in Manchester, New Hampshire.
And I would say, during that three-minute break, that all of the candidates headed for the wings, and I thought it might just be the two of us here for the last 45 minutes.
(LAUGHTER)
And I'm so relieved...
(LAUGHTER)
... to say that they all came back: Senator McCain, Senator Thompson, Congressman Paul, Governor Romney, Governor Huckabee, Mayor Giuliani, it's good to have all of you with us.
We're going to do some more direct questions. We've got tally lights this time. We're going to limit you in the length of your answers. And if you want to respond, in these first questions, you're certainly welcome to do so.
Why don't you start, Scott?
SPRADLING: Senator McCain, good evening.
MCCAIN: Good evening, Scott.
SPRADLING: I'm struck by the fact that we're on the St. Anselm campus. And a few months, you took some hits in a debate that you had here with your fellow Republicans on the issue of illegal immigration and your views.
Since that debate...
MCCAIN: I shouldn't have come back.
(LAUGHTER)
SPRADLING: Since that debate, sir, you've told voters, "I hear you." You've acknowledged some of these complaints.
And there's more talk, I know, from you, about stronger borders. That's a big focus in this debate.
But fundamentally, I'm wondering, don't you still have the same plan for a path to citizenship that you fundamentally held months ago?
MCCAIN: Sure. But the fact is that the American people have lost trust and confidence in government, and we have to secure the borders first.
MCCAIN: I come from a border state. I've very aware of the challenges we face and the impact of illegal immigration. So, we will secure the borders first. As president, I will have the border state governors certify that those borders are secure.
And, of course, in the course of our debates and discussions and -- with Secretary Chertoff, he said that there's 2 million people who are in this country illegally who have committed crimes. Those people have to be deported immediately.
And I do believe we need a temporary worker program. One with an employee -- employment -- electronic employment verification system and tamper-proof biometric documents, so that the only document and that system (inaudible) can an employer legally hire somebody, and any employer who employs someone in any other way will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
MCCAIN: Now, I want to say again, this is a national security issue. We have to secure our borders.
But I want to say again, these are God's children. We have to address it in as humane and compassionate an issue as possible. But we have to respect our nation's security requirements.
So I think that it's time Republican and Democrat sat down together and resolved this issue. Because if you've got broken borders, and if you have 12 million people here illegally, then, obviously, you have de facto amnesty.
It is a federal responsibility. The federal government must act. I will act as president.
GIBSON: We got the tally lights this time.
Governor?
MCCAIN: Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Charlie.
GIBSON: That's all right.
ROMNEY: I disagree fundamentally with the idea that the 12 million people who've come here illegally should all be allowed to remain in the United States permanently, potentially some of them applying for citizenship and becoming citizens, others just staying permanently.
I think that is a form of amnesty, and that it's not appropriate. We're a nation of laws.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Our liberty is based upon being a nation of laws. I would welcome those people to get in line with everybody else who wants to come here permanently.
ROMNEY: But there should be no special pathway to permanent residency or citizenship for those that have come here illegally.
I welcome legal immigration. Of course we need to secure the border. We need to have an employment verification system with a card to identify who's here legally and not legally. We need to have employer sanctions that hire people that then don't have the legal card.
But with regards to those already here, it is simply not right and unfair to say they're going to all get to stay, where there are people around the world who've been waiting in line to come to this country. They should have the first chance.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: Scott, can I respond to that?
SPRADLING: I have a question for both you and the mayor, and I'd like to give it to the mayor first.
Mayor Giuliani, a point of specificity here. Do you believe that the illegals that have been identified in the U.S. need to leave the United States and reapply for citizenship to come back into the country? And if so, for how long?
GIULIANI: What I believe should happen is we should stop illegal immigration at the border, and we should begin doing it now.
GIULIANI: We should erect a fence. We should erect a technological fence. We should expand the Border Patrol. We should have a BorderStat system. We should have a rule that you cannot come into the United States without identifying yourself, which, after all, is the rule in every other country just about.
And then we should operate that for two, three, four years, change behavior. And then we should take that system, with a tamper- proof I.D. card, which would be used for people coming into this country, and what we should do with the people that are here.
First of all, right now, our priorities should be -- since you can't throw out all 12 million people, whether Governor Romney would like to do that or not or anybody else would, you just can't do it. It's not physically possible to do.
I would focus on the illegal immigrants that are here who have committed crimes. They should be given priority. That's a number we can deal with. That's a number we can throw out.
GIULIANI: Then what I would do with the people that are here, when you had a good system in place -- and I believe my plan is the best plan for doing that, and these are the kinds of things I achieved in the other jobs that I've had in my life, as mayor and associate attorney general -- I think what you would do then is, you would say to the 12 million people that are here, come forward, get a tamper- proof I.D. card, get fingerprinted, get photographed.
If they don't come forward, then you throw them out of the country. The ones who do come forward would have to pay taxes. They'd have to pay fines.
If you pay fines, it is not amnesty. They would not get ahead of anybody else. They'd be at the back of the line. But then they could eventually become citizens, so long as they could read English, write English and speak English.
SPRADLING: Thank you.
MCCAIN: Let me just say, I've never supported amnesty.
A few nights ago, Joe Lieberman and I had a town hall meeting together. It was a rather unusual event. The issue came up. Joe Lieberman said, John McCain has never supported amnesty, and anybody says that he does is a liar, is lying.
Now, no better authority than Governor Romney believed that it's not amnesty because two years ago, he was asked, and he said that my plan was, quote, "reasonable, and was not amnesty."
It's a matter of record.
SPRADLING: Governor, you want to explain your ad?
ROMNEY: Yes, absolutely, which is what he describes is technically true, which is his plan does not provide amnesty because he charges people $5,000 to be able to stay.
MORE7
ROMNEY: And that, technically...
MCCAIN: That's not true. That's not complete response to it.
And, Governor Romney, it was explained to you and you said it was reasonable and not amnesty. You can look it up.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let me have a chance.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Rudy, let me have a chance to finish, OK? Then you'll get your chance.
I saw your plan, along with Senator Cornyn's plan and the Bush plan; I said they were all reasonable. And I said I would study them and decide which one to endorse, and I endorsed none of them, as you know, Senator.
Number two, your plan, I said, is not technically amnesty because it provides for a penalty for people to be able to stay...
MCCAIN: It provides for more than a penalty.
ROMNEY: OK. Would you describe what else it has, besides a penalty?
MCCAIN: Sure. Fine, learn English, back of the line behind everybody else -- pretty much what Rudy just described.
ROMNEY: OK, great. So it has a...
MCCAIN: So that we can address the issue.
ROMNEY: Fine. Unless you pay $5,000...
MCCAIN: It's not amnesty. And for you to describe it as you do in the attack ads, my friend, you can spend your whole fortune on these attack ads, but it will won't be true.
(UNKNOWN): May I...
ROMNEY: No, no, no, no. I get a chance to respond to this.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
GIBSON: (inaudible)
ROMNEY: I don't describe your plan as amnesty in my ad. I don't call it amnesty.
What I say is -- and you just described what most people would say is a form of amnesty. Yes, they pay $5,000, their background is checked, they have to learn English.
But your view is everybody who's come here illegally today, other than criminals, would be allowed -- when they speak English and get $5,000 payment and they get a background check, they're allowed to stay forever.
MCCAIN: Look, I don't...
ROMNEY: That's your plan, and that plan, in my view, is not appropriate.
Those people should be invited to get in line outside the country with everybody else who wants to come here, but they should not be given a special right to stay here...
MCCAIN: There is no special right associated with my plan.
ROMNEY: ... for the rest of their lives.
MCCAIN: I said should they should not be in any way rewarded for illegal behavior.
ROMNEY: Are they sent home?
MCCAIN: They have to get in line behind everybody else.
ROMNEY: Are they sent home? Are they sent home?
MCCAIN: Some of them are, some of them are not depending on their situation.
ROMNEY: The last bill you put forward...
MCCAIN: If a woman who has been here for eight years...
ROMNEY: I'm sorry -- the last bill...
MCCAIN: ... and has a son fighting in Iraq...
ROMNEY: Senator, the last bill you put forward...
MCCAIN: ... I'm not interesting in calling her up, calling up her son and telling I'm deporting his grandmother.
This has to be...
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: Didn't you say Republicans were making a terrible mistake if they were separating themselves with President Bush on the illegal immigration issue?
ROMNEY: No, that was quoted in A.P. It happened to be wrong.
Let me -- let me -- let me...
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: You're always misquoted.
ROMNEY: It was -- that does happen from time to time. But let me -- it does actually.
MCCAIN: When you change issues -- positions on issues from time to time, you will get misquoted.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: Senator, is there a way to have this about issues and not about personal attacks? I hope so, because I think we have some differences in issues.
MCCAIN: I do, too. I do, too.
ROMNEY: And let me tell you, the issue that's at stake here is, do the people who come here illegally, the 12 million -- are they allowed to stay in this country the rest of their life?
And the final bill you put forward in the United States Senate was...
MCCAIN: The answer is...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: Can I complete?
MCCAIN: The answer is, we were still negotiating, we were debating, we were saying that some people have to go back to the country that they came from before they came here...
ROMNEY: I'm sorry, there was a Z visa. The Z visa was given to everybody...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: ... that some people have to go back.
First, as Rudy said, we have to round up the 2 million who have committed crimes and deport them immediately.
ROMNEY: Let's not divert.
MCCAIN: And that is not amnesty for anyone.
GIBSON: Well, I don't want to divert. Let me come back to your plan.
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: Is it practical to take 12 million people and send them out of the country? Is it practical?
ROMNEY: The answer is no. The answer is no.
So, here's how my plan works.
One, it says to those 12 million people, they do not have the right, as they would under the final Senate plan, to receive a Z visa, which was renewable indefinitely. That meant these people could stay in the country forever. That was what the plan did, and that's why talk radio and the American people went nuts.
MCCAIN: (inaudible) that's not the plan.
ROMNEY: Senator, you look up your Z visa, it is renewable indefinitely. Every legal -- every illegal alien got to stay in the country forever, other than those that committed crimes.
GIBSON: Go ahead.
GIULIANI: Charlie, if Ronald Reagan were here, who we all invoke, who would grab the microphone, say, "It's my microphone, I paid for it."
GIULIANI: And Ronald Reagan did amnesty. He actually did amnesty. I think he'd be in one of Mitt's negative commercials.
(LAUGHTER)
And he is the hero of our party.
None of us, none of us has a perfect record on immigration because this is a very complicated problem. The thing that we have to do is we have to decide who has the best plan among all of us for fixing illegal immigration.
You got to stop it at the border. You got to stop it cold at the border. And then you have to have a rational system.
It is not amnesty. If you charge -- I did this more in my life than I did politics, meaning law enforcement -- if you charge fines, if you have impositions of conditions, it is not amnesty.
Ronald Reagan gave amnesty, saying they have to pay a fine, have to get on the back of the line, have a whole bunch of conditions...
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: I thought you said that wasn't amnesty.
GIULIANI: That is not amnesty. That is not amnesty.
If you have a fine, if you have conditions, if you have a whole bunch of steps that people have to go through, it is not amnesty.
Ronald Reagan gave amnesty, straight-out amnesty.
THOMPSON: The question is, are you rewarded for your illegal behavior in any way?
If the answer is yes, it's amnesty.
GIULIANI: But if you have to pay a penalty for it, it is not. For example...
THOMPSON: Do you get allowed to -- but you can still stay in the country?
GIULIANI: Pay money, have to follow...
THOMPSON: But you can still stay in the country?
GIULIANI: Well, but you have to pay penalties.
THOMPSON: But you can still stay in the country?
GIULIANI: There are all different kinds of penalties.
GIBSON: What would you do, Senator?
GIULIANI: Someone gets amnesty from a crime...
THOMPSON: You can have -- you can have -- you can have enforcement by attrition if you obey the law and you enforce the law that's on the books today.
If we started securing the border, as we are supposed to do -- and we're all in agreement that it must be done now.
THOMPSON: I mean, we arrest thousands, over the years, of people from countries that are state sponsors of terrorism. I mean, it's essentially a national security issue, as well as an issue of fairness, as well as a social issue with regard to what states and communities have to face nowadays, and workers who are in competition with this.
If we enforced the borders so people couldn't go back and forth, if we assisted employers with a system that we now have on the books that 20,000, 30,000 employers now are using, a verification system so you could essentially punch a button, the Homeland Security folks will tell you whether or not this person is illegal on the front end, and if we stop sanctuary cities where we're telling local people that you can't cooperate with federal authorities, and stop inducing people to come here with employment and protection under sanctuary cities, as Mayor Giuliani did when he was mayor of New York, then we would have -- we would have attrition of these numbers and start reversing...
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: I have to answer...
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: Our process of limiting these answers is going just to Hades.
GIULIANI: I have to answer that -- I have to answer that question. New York City was not a sanctuary city. New York City turned in the names of every single person who committed a crime or was suspected of a crime.
THOMPSON: What about just being illegal?
GIULIANI: Well, New York City turned in the names of all people that were illegal, with only three exceptions. One exception was for children that were going to school. We had 70,000 children of illegals. I was not going to leave them on the street. I am proud that I continued that policy. It would have been inhumane to do anything else.
THOMPSON: We passed a bill in 1996...
GIULIANI: Let me finish. Let me finish.
Second, we said, "If you come into a hospital and you need treatment for an emergency, you'll be treated." It would have been inhumane to do anything else.
And we said, "If you report crimes, we will take those reports." And we wanted those reports of crimes because they helped us to reduce crime...
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: All right. Go back and look at the record. In 1996, Congress -- the United States Congress, when I was there, when I was in the Senate, we passed a bill outlawing illegal amnesty.
THOMPSON: I'm serious. Rudy went to court and sued to overturn what we'd passed in legislation. We weren't trying to throw children out on the street either. I think if you...
GIULIANI: Those are the three narrow categories that I was objecting to. They all had to do with humane conditions. It was a policy that was...
THOMPSON: We were (inaudible) inhumane conditions.
(CROSSTALK)
GIBSON: Governor Huckabee is sitting here with a quiet smile, just thinking, "OK, let them fight; I'm going to stay out of this."
So I want to bring you in quickly, and then Congressman Paul, then we will move on.
HUCKABEE: As Abraham Lincoln said, "If it weren't for the honor of it, I'd just as soon pass," when he was run out of town on a rail. But let me join in on this.
(LAUGHTER)
The fact is, Americans are upset about this issue because they feel like we've violated the rule of law. Every one of us I think agree that you have to secure the border and until that's done, nothing makes sense.
That ought to be done. It ought to be done with American workers, with American products, and it ought to be done immediately. Eighteen months ought to be the outside length of time.
If the Empire State Building can be built in 14 months, if some of the great works of this country can be built in a record period of time, I'm convinced we can secure our borders.
And I agree with Senator Thompson, it's an issue of national security, more than it is anything else. But it's a matter of sealing the borders of our nation in a responsible way.
HUCKABEE: I think we ought to have a period of time in which people then return to their home country and get in the back of the line.
Now, the reason I've come to that conclusion is for a variety of focus, but here's part of it: When people live in the United States, they ought to have their head up. They ought to not live in fear. Every time they see a police car, they shouldn't run and hide. Nobody ought to live like that in this country.
And the only way we're going to fix that is that people do it right. And in order to do it right, they're going to have to go back and get in the back of the line.
It's not an inhumane way; I think it's the only way that makes sense.
And I want to make final point that I think ought to happen: When we say, "Well, we can't round these people up and take them home," we don't have to, Charlie.
You give them the option: If you don't do it the right way and then we catch you, you would be subject to deportation. But if you do it the right way, then you're going to be able to live with your head up and live free in this country, properly. And it won't be that we have this huge problem and the resentment that goes with it.
HUCKABEE: And the final reason that's important -- I know you want me to finish, and I'm doing it.
The reason that we've got to do that is that when people say we can't get a -- we don't have to, for this simple principle: The government didn't escort them over the border in the first place, so the government doesn't have to take them back. They got here on their own. And people can go back and start the process legally, for their benefit and for everyone else's benefit.
GIBSON: Congressman Paul?
PAUL: I think there is two points I'd like to make.
One, I get a little bit worried when we talk about the tamper- proof I.D. for illegals or immigrants, because how do you do that? Anybody that is an immigrant or looks like an immigrant would have to have an I.D. And then, you can't discriminate, so everybody's going to have the I.D.
I think it's opening the door for the national I.D., and we should be very, careful about that.
But one thing that we haven't talked about here is about the economics of illegal immigration. You can't solve this problem as long as you have the runaway welfare state and excessive spending and the wiping out of the middle class through inflation, because that's what directs the hostility, is people are hurting.
And then, when we have all these mandates on the hospitals and on our schools. And, no wonder. The incentives are there. There's an incentive for a lot of our people not to work, because they can get welfare. And then there's a lot of incentive because they know they're going to get amnesty. We gave it to the illegals in the '80s.
And then, we put mandates on the states to compel them to have medical care. And you say, well, that's compassionate. But what happens if the hospital closes and then the people here in this country don't get medical care?
So you can't divorce it from the economics. You've got to get rid of the incentives. No amnesty. And no forced benefits. Because, obviously, they'll bring their families.
And it just won't work if you try to see this in a vacuum. And you have to deal with it as a whole, as an economic issue as well.
ROMNEY: Charlie, can we just underscore, we're talking about illegal immigration?
GIBSON: Yes.
ROMNEY: And I think every person on this stage wants the community to understand that legal immigration, we value. It's great for the country. We welcome legal immigration, every single one of us. No difference on that.
We get twisted on this outside.
GIBSON: So noted. So noted. So noted.
ROMNEY: We are very much in favor of legal immigration. It's a great source of vitality for our country.
SPRADLING: Governor Romney, I'm going to stay with you. In Charlie's health care dialogue in the first half, you mentioned Hillary-care. This group has aimed a lot of partisan firepower at Hillary Clinton. But I'd like, if you don't mind, to adjust the outcome for a minute and walk down this road with me.
Let's say that Barack Obama is the nominee. He won the Iowa caucus. We have a WMUR poll out just tonight that shows it's tied here in New Hampshire, 33-33. And I'd like to know from you why, against you as the nominee down the line, why not vote for Barack Obama, and not just because he's a Democrat. You're not allowed to say that.
(LAUGHTER)
I'd like to hear some specifics on why not him.
ROMNEY: Well, we have very different views on a whole series of issues.
ROMNEY: And I could take you through one by one.
One would be health care, for instance. He wants the government to take over health care, spend hundreds of billions of dollars of new money for health insurance for everyone. That'll be -- that'll break the bank.
If you think -- as the comedian said, P.J. O'Rourke, if you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's free. All right. So that's not the right direction.
So we can talk about issues. But the biggest difference I think -- and it's going to be true for me and others who talk about it -- is that this is a time when America wants change. Washington is broken. That was the message coming out of Iowa. I've heard it across the country. Washington is broken, not just the White House, not just Congress. Washington can't get the job done on immigration, on lowering taxes, on fixing schools, on getting health care, on overcoming radical jihad. They want change.
Barack Obama looked at several senators steeped in long history in the Senate and completely blew them away in the Iowa caucus.
ROMNEY: It's a message of change.
And when we sit down and talk about change -- Barack Obama and myself at that final debate, as you are positing -- I can say, "Not only can I talk change with you, I've lived it. In the private sector for 25 years, I brought change to company after company. In the Olympics, it was in trouble. I brought change. In Massachusetts, I brought change. I have done it. I have changed things, and that experience is what America is looking for."
You look at that debate with Barack Obama. I'm looking forward to head-to-head.
GIBSON: I'm going to keep us on time. Go ahead.
SPRADLING: Senator Thompson, I'd like to get your take on that: you vs. Senator Barack Obama. Why not him?
THOMPSON: Well, Senator Obama has adopted the position of every liberal interest group in this country as best I can tell; all the major ones, the NEA and everyone who's stepped forth with a position paper on these issues. His positions are very liberal positions.
THOMPSON: His first alternative to all problems, as best I can see, is not only the government, but the federal government.
He's talking in generalities right now. As the time goes on, the process goes on, I think he'll have to be more definitive. But it's clear from what he's said so far that he's taking that position.
And as far as change is concerned, the change we need is to go to constitutional principles, the first principles this country was founded upon, respect for the rule of law, market economies, free people doing free things, and a country that doesn't tax and spend it's people to death, that's doesn't regulate the life blood out of them, doesn't spend money that it doesn't have.
And that's not the direction they want to go in. They want to take us down the road of the welfare state, essentially, and a road that I think would lead us to a weaker position in terms of national security.
SPRADLING: We'll move off-topic in a moment, but, Senator, you served with Mr. Obama.
MCCAIN: I just wanted to say to Governor Romney, we disagree on a lot of issues, but I agree you are the candidate of change.
(LAUGHTER)
But the difference I would have with Senator Obama has got to do with national security.
I know Senator Obama and I've worked with him many times and I respect him, as I respect Senator Clinton.
Senator Obama does not have the national security experience and background to lead this nation.
We are facing the transcendent challenge of the 21st century. And that is radical Islamic extremism.
In his recent statements on various foreign -- national security issues, I have strongly disagreed.
But I am -- can make it perfectly clear that it requires a lot of knowledge and a lot of experience and a lot of background to have the judgment to address the challenges that our nation faces in the 21st century.
ROMNEY: May I make a comment?
One -- one, it's -- the continued personal barbs are interesting but unnecessary.
ROMNEY: But number three -- number two, Hillary Clinton and Bill Richardson and Senator Dodd and Senator Biden all made that same argument in Iowa. And Barack Obama blew them away.
And if you think making that argument as a Republican, that you have more experience and you've been around longer in the Senate, that that's somehow going to -- and that you know the cloakroom, the Senate cloakroom, better than he does, that's not going to work.
THOMPSON: It was an Iowa Democratic primary (inaudible).
ROMNEY: You're going to have to have -- you're going to have to have a person...
(LAUGHTER)
MCCAIN: This is an Iowa Democrat primary we're talking about.
ROMNEY: America wants change.
THOMPSON: A lot of independents.
GIBSON: Mr. Mayor?
GIULIANI: I think the problem Barack Obama would have is, first of all, he's never run a city, never run a state, never run a business. I don't think at a time when America's at war, with the major problems that we face, we're going to want someone to get on- the-job experience as the chief executive, never having had that kind of experience.
I do think he's embraced change, but change is a concept. Is it change for good or change for bad?
GIULIANI: Changing, and having higher taxes, in my view, would be very bad for our economy. Changing, and moving toward socialized medicine would be very bad for our health care system.
Changing, by a precipitous withdrawal from Iraq, without considering the consequences -- he voted for giving the enemy a timetable of our retreat in Iraq. Unheard of in a time of war.
So I would say that virtually the same issues that exist between me and, let's say, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, they are really issues between Republicans and Democrats.
And in the case of Senator Obama, he really doesn't have the experience, either from the national security point of view or even from just the executive point of view.
GIBSON: Governor Huckabee?
HUCKABEE: Well, I think there would be substantial differences on the Second Amendment, on the sanctity of life, on the role of government, on the idea of local versus federal government. I'm still a 10th Amendment guy and believe that most of these decisions ought to be left to the states.
HUCKABEE: I think there will also be fundamental differences on taxes, whether they ought to go up or down. I think there would be differences on national defense. I think we ought to have the strongest possible military that nobody else on Earth wants to ever even think about engaging in battle.
There would be a number of issues that would be fundamentally different. Probably on same-sex marriage, there would be a difference of opinion between Senator Obama and me.
I mean, I could go through a whole litany of things that would be dramatically different. I think, in fact, it would be fair to say that any one of us would have a very different litany of issues.
But in fairness, since I still have just a little bit of yellow light left, I think we also ought to recognize that what Senator Obama has done is to touch at the core of something Americans want.
They are so tired of everything being horizontal -- left, right, liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican. They're looking for vertical leadership that leads up, not down.
HUCKABEE: He has excited a lot of voters in this country. Let's pay respect for that. He is a likable person who has excited people about wanting to vote who have not voted in the past.
And we'd better be careful as a party, because if we don't give people something to be for, and only something to be against, we're going to lose that next election, and there are some fundamental issues that we lose with it.
GIBSON: Congressman Paul?
PAUL: You know, it's interesting that you asked this question, because we have a lot of similarities, matter of fact, Barack Obama and myself, because our campaign is made up of young people. And frequently we will have young people joining us that came from Barack Obama's campaign and we're very pleased.
But Barack spoke out against the war before it started, and he respects civil liberties, and I respect him for that.
But the question is, is why, why would it be? I assume it's because of the similarity in the age of us two candidates that young people are attracted to us.
(LAUGHTER)
PAUL: But it is. It's the youthfulness of the ideas that bring the young people to us.
But there is a difference between what Barack Obama is talking about, because he does give hope to young people, and that what happens in our campaign.
But I talk a lot more about different kind of economic policies. I talk about personal liberty and the right to people's personal life and getting -- stopping these wars and coming home and having a sensible monetary policy. And young people like this.
But Barack Obama is not going to talk about the goal of getting rid of the income tax and dealing with monetary policy. I mean, he is too much into the welfare state issue, not quite understanding how free market economics is the truly compassionate system.
If we care about the poor and want to help the poor, you have to have free markets. You can't have a welfare state in order to try to take care of people.
GIBSON: Let me move on.
People in this state, and everywhere, are worried about gas prices.
GIBSON: When 2007 began, oil was $61 a barrel. It was $100 last week. We haven't even begun to see the demand that India and China is going to put on the world's oil markets.
Don't you have to, in the end, level with people that gas prices are at this level to stay and, if anything, they're going to go higher?
And isn't not to do so intellectual dishonesty?
Anybody?
PAUL: I'll be glad to answer that question, because it's something I talk about all the time and it's a very important question.
The Wall Street Journal yesterday had a very good chart that explains this. If you look at the price of oil in the last 10 years, if you look at it in terms of dollars, it went up 350 percent.
If you look at it in euros, it went up about 200 percent.
If you look at it in the price of gold, it stayed flat.
It's the inflation, it's the printing of money, it's the destruction of the value of the dollar. Added on to this, the notion that we go to protect our oil.
PAUL: Oil was $27 when we went over there to get the oil and protect the oil and take the oil from Iraq. There's less -- there's less than about half the production now in Iraq right now. And we're threatening Iran. And that pushes prices up. It pushes up the concept of supply and demand.
But you can't deal with the price of oil without dealing with the supply and demand of dollars. When you devalue the dollar -- and the dollar is going down every day. And the further the dollar goes down, the higher the prices of oil are going up. We have to understand that.
GIBSON: Senator?
MCCAIN: At that price of oil, we're going to send $400 billion a year overseas to oil-producing countries. Some of that money will end up in the hands of terrorist organizations. It will certainly end up in the hands of dictators who do not have our interests or our values, and sometimes want to harm America.
We have to reduce the dependence on foreign oil, and we have to eliminate -- we have to address the issue of greenhouse gas emissions.
MCCAIN: I think it's a nexus of two critical issues facing this country: alternate energy -- nuclear power, wind, solar, tide, hybrids. We have to unleash the technology of America -- and we must reduce and eventually eliminate this dependency on foreign oil, because it has become a national-security issue, and we have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, because I believe there's enough evidence that we are going to damage this planet beyond repair unless we begin to address that issue.
SPRADLING: Senator Thompson, Americans are also watching the profits of companies here in America that are making a lot of money as these prices per barrel are skyrocketing. They're bothered by it. People in New Hampshire are bothered by this. Aren't you?
THOMPSON: Bothered by the high profits, you say?
SPRADLING: By the profits, yes.
THOMPSON: Yeah.
SPRADLING: Should something not be done?
THOMPSON: Well, I take note of those profits, and I take note of the losses when they've had them.
SPRADLING: But you wouldn't step in to do anything to change the...
THOMPSON: Such as what?
SPRADLING: Excess profits tax?
THOMPSON: Windfall profits tax? No. No.
You know, the oil price basically is a function or a result of supply and demand.
THOMPSON: Now, we can throw rocks at each other, and we can demagogue the issue and all that. And, of course, there's plenty of it.
But getting back to your original question, Charlie, I mean, nobody knows what the price of oil is going to be in the future. But I think you make a good case that it's going to be -- it's going to be very high. Because it's not just us. The Chinese are demanding more oil, going around the world and making all kinds of deals with dictators and causing all kinds of other problems because of it. India. There are a lot of growing economies out there.
And that's the world we live in for the immediate future. We're not going to be energy independent in a few years.
Now, we have to be more diversified. We're getting too much oil from trouble spots in the world. Everybody knows about the Middle East. Everybody knows about Chavez and Venezuela. And we're just too dependent on the wrong kinds of people.
THOMPSON: And we need to do all the things that John mentioned -- as I recall, the things he mentioned -- plus cleaner coal technology, plus using the oil reserves that we have here in this country and nuclear -- more nuclear.
But, you know, we are not -- you know, we're not a nation that regulates the profits or the losses of our economy. We want people refining that oil and we want people -- and there hasn't been a refinery built here in a long time in this country.
And we want the oil to flow. We need for it to flow right now while we work our way into a more diversified situation.
GIBSON: Any of you, by the...
GIULIANI: Charlie, we really have to take the idea of energy independence and turn it into a program for energy independence. We've been talking about it since Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter -- never done it. And it has to be done on the scale of putting a man on the moon.
All of the things that they've all talked about, we've talked about it a long time; we just haven't done it.
GIULIANI: We've got to expand nuclear. We've got to do clean coal. We've got to expand the use of hybrid vehicles, wind, solar, hydroelectric, liquid natural gas, natural gas, domestic oil, more refineries.
Senator Thompson is absolutely right: We haven't built a refinery, I think, if 30 years. We haven't licensed a nuclear power plant in 30 years.
France is 80 percent nuclear. We're 20 percent nuclear. China is building 40 nuclear power plants. We're having trouble getting one licensed for the last 30 years.
If we don't make this a major program, led by the president of the United States, the way Eisenhower started the program to put a man on the moon and then Kennedy followed and then Johnson followed and Nixon got it done -- two Republicans, two Democrats -- it should be an American achievement.
GIBSON: Nuclear is a very interesting issue here in the state of New Hampshire.
Governor Huckabee?
HUCKABEE: Well, I think it is possible to get energy independent, and do it within a decade. We're the same country that built an atomic...
GIBSON: In 10 years?
HUCKABEE: I believe we can -- if we want to; if we untax the possibilities of the innovations in technologies; if we also look at the fact that -- put an incentive out there that's just truly something dramatic: a billion-dollar bonus for the first person who can produce a car that can get 100 miles per gallon.
HUCKABEE: In addition to that, look at the alternative forms of energy that we can use. And everybody talked about...
(CROSSTALK)
THOMPSON: There'd be no windfall profit tax on that.
HUCKABEE: There wouldn't be, no.
THOMPSON: I agree.
HUCKABEE: And I don't believe there should, Fred, because I think we ought to un-tax innovation, un-tax income.
Anything -- any time you penalize productivity, it's counterintuitive to an economy. And one of the reasons that we're dependent is because we have allowed the oil companies to dictate not just prices, but policy.
And it's time to say that we're not going to allow dictators, whether it's the Middle East or from Venezuela, to continue to in essence enslave the American people, which is exactly what we've done.
Senator McCain is right. We have an issue now where we're paying for both sides of the war on terror. We pay for it with our tax dollars to fund the military, but every time we swipe our credit card in the gas pump, we might as well be sending a check over to the madrassas that are training the terrorists that eventually are going to come back to us. And that's why it's got to be an urgent matter of utmost priority.
GIBSON: We are just about out of time, but, Governor Romney, you're going to have the final word.
ROMNEY: We're going to have to deal with this in an honest way with the American people, and that is this is not something that's going to get solved in 10 years. We can't become energy independent in 10 years, but we can get ourselves on a track to do that, with all the ways that Senator McCain and Mayor Giuliani and Fred Thompson have described. We can get there.
ROMNEY: It's going to require a far more substantial investment by our nation in energy technology. Right now, we spend about $4 billion a year on new sources of energy and energy efficiency. We're going to have to increase that dramatically.
And American corporations, last year they spent more money defending tort lawsuits than they spent on research and development. We're upside-down. The future of a great nation like ours depends on leading the world in technology and innovation, in energy in particular.
This has to be our highest domestic economic priority, get ourselves on a track to become energy secure and energy dependent -- independent. We can do that. It's within our grasp. But it's going to take reality rather than just the political rhetoric we've seen over the last 25 years.
GIBSON: And with that, gentlemen, we conclude the Republican debate, and I thank you. And I think you are due a round of applause.
(APPLAUSE)
I just want to take a moment -- and I want the audience to stay in place. We tend in these debates -- and I thank all of them for being here -- to focus on differences.
But I think everyone agrees that what unites us as Americans is greater than what divides us.
And so, since tonight is unique, and since we have candidates of both parties here, I want to ask all of them to share the stage for a moment, just greet one another, as evidence that in one year, we will all come together to support our new president, someone who will be on this stage.
So just for a moment, I'd like to ask Senators Clinton and Edwards, Obama, Governor Richardson to join us on stage.
(APPLAUSE)
We are going to pause. We are going to pause for a commercial break. We will set for the Democratic debate, which will begin in just a few moments. We hope you'll all stay with us.
We're going to take a commercial break, and when we come back, Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos will join us again.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAWYER: And I'm here with George Stephanopoulos. And just moments ago, the Republican debate inside St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, came to a close.
And that signature sight on stage there, George, the Democrats and Republicans not just rubbing elbows. Some embraces here?
STEPHANOPOULOS: And half embraces. Barack Obama striding right out in the middle of the stage, confident and first. You know, a little bit of the tension from these greetings was, who's going to kiss Hillary?
It looked like Mike Huckabee tried for it at one moment. I don't know if we see it there. I think that John McCain and Hillary Clinton, old friends, might have hugged.
SAWYER: It was fairly brief. And then they just passed right across and exited the other side of the stage.
And we'll tell you a little bit about what's happening right now. The audience is actually moving out, and the audience that is inclined to vote Democratic is coming in. The candidates, the Democratic candidates are now getting their mikes checked and going through that entire process.
But George, take a look back now at the Republican debate. What were your key thoughts?
STEPHANOPOULOS: I think the predicate was set early on that Mitt Romney was going to be the center of this debate and on the defensive. And here's one of the moments that mattered very early on. Mitt Romney was talking about his position on the war, and Mike Huckabee interjected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Don't try and characterize my position. Of course, this war has...
HUCKABEE: Which one?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Clean shot. A very clean shot by Mike Huckabee. And Diane, I counted up. These guys on the stage do not like Mitt Romney. He was attacked by Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mike Huckabee. He was the center of the debate even though he's not the leader anymore.
SAWYER: But in the politics of it all, can being the center of the debate in itself be a kind of advantage? And he had a chance to address things such as what he did on health care in Massachusetts.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I think that's going to be the question for viewers coming out of this, but he was on the defensive all night long. I think it was a tough night for him.
John McCain stayed out of a lot of the debate, but he was put on the defensive on the issue that's been his Achilles heel, immigration, and whether or not his plan was amnesty. He and Mitt Romney were going at it on that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: ... not amnesty. And for you to describe it as you do in the attack ads, my friend, you can spend your whole -- your whole fortune one these attack ads, but it still won't be true.
GIULIANI: May I make a...
ROMNEY: No, no, no, no. I get a chance to respond to this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMNEY: I don't describe your plan as amnesty in my ad. I don't call it amnesty. What I say is -- and you just described what most people would say is a form of amnesty.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCAIN: There is no special right associated with my plan. I said they should not be in any way rewarded for illegal behavior.
ROMNEY: Are they sent home? Are they sent home?
MCCAIN: They have to get in line behind everybody...
ROMNEY: Are they sent home?
MCCAIN: Some of them are. Some of them are not.
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Every second spent talking about immigration for John McCain is a bad second. This is the issue that made his campaign collapse last year, and he doesn't want to be talking about it.
I do think, Diane, that Fred Thompson had a terrific night. I mean, this is the Fred Thompson we used to see as an actor on television. He was confident. He was funny. He was well informed. The question is, is it too late to matter?
SAWYER: We were talking earlier about the fact that he's not really campaigning in New Hampshire, so he got to spend a couple of days maybe catching his breath...
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's exactly right.
SAWYER: ... when the others didn't.
OK, let's go right now, because in a few minutes George will handicap the Democratic debate about to begin. But we want to go to our political pros in the spin room, as we said, the room where everyone comes afterwards to try to change the headline in the morning.
And let's begin with senior political correspondent Jake Tapper. He's covering the Huckabee campaign.
Jake?
JAKE TAPPER, ABC NEWS SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Diane.
Well, the Huckabee campaign is pretty pleased with the fact that they feel their candidate had the best communication skills of the evening, and here's one important point. He was the one who embraced Obama's message of change; differentiated from him on the issues, but embracing the message of change. And also he was one that talked about uniting America, which many Republicans and Democrats feel is an important message for the general election.
SAWYER: OK, let's turn to John Berman.
What about, John Berman, what are you hearing from the Romney campaign?
JOHN BERMAN, ABC NEWS: Well, they saw the same attacks that you both saw, and they say if they're ignoring you, they're not worried about you. They say the attacks by Mike Huckabee and John McCain on Mitt Romney seemed rehearsed.
Remember, this is their spin, and what they're hoping everyone says tomorrow morning is that Mitt Romney engaged in discussions about health care and immigration and tried to stay above the fray, but there was a lot of fray to go around, Diane.
SAWYER: OK, and weekend anchor Kate Snow is next to you there, John.
The Giuliani campaign -- what's the word?
KATE SNOW, ABC ANCHOR: Well, one thing they're saying is they think Romney had a really bad night.
They also think that Giuliani came out strong. They think that he's strong on the issues. He's prepared to tackle big issues. You heard him mention 9/11 several times over. His strength is terrorism, anti-terrorism. He will talk about that as much as he possibly can.
They also think that the more that Romney and McCain go after each other and go negative, the better off Rudy Giuliani is. His strategy is really not one that centers on New Hampshire. He's going for the high-delegate-count states, the states like Florida and California, New York, that vote much later in this process.
So he thinks, if he can, sort of, stay out of the fray right now, he's got a good shot at all those states.
SAWYER: OK. We want to turn to Ron Clayburn (ph).
Ron, I want to remind everybody the latest WMUR poll has McCain, the candidate you're going to talk about, in front, with 33 percent, and Romney in second with 27 percent.
So what are the McCain forces saying?
CLAYBURN (?): Well, a McCain adviser is telling me that the debate showed that John McCain was the adult in the room. He got to talk about health care. He talked about immigration.
Now, he's been attacked by Mitt Romney in a series of ads, over his immigration plans. Their version is that he was able to clean up the controversy over immigration and, in the process, he got in that zinger that you just showed a little while ago, where he said, "You can spend your entire fortune, your whole fortune on attack ads, and it still won't be true."
And John McCain also got in another couple of zingers where he alluded to Mitt Romney changing his positions.
CLAIBORNE: They're saying it was a good night for John McCain.
SAWYER: All right, each of the campaigns taking their best shots there.
Thanks to you all.
Stand by for the Democrats.
But, of course, the evening isn't just about what the candidates and their forces say, it's also about what you feel at this pivotal moment is history.
And for some instant reaction from those watching and taking part on Facebook, we go back again to Bianna Golodryga.
What are you hearing, Bianna?
GOLODRYGA: We're hearing a lot, Diane. Actually, thousands of people are debating the debate. And we've picked a few key issues right now we want to talk to you about.
Charlie brought up foreign policy, and so we asked people, are they more informed about the candidates' foreign policy? Sixty-seven percent say yes; 33 percent say no.
Another interesting issue: Is tonight's debate giving you a better sense of who you will vote for? Some people must be saying the right and the wrong answers, because 75 percent of the people answered yes; 25 percent answered no.
And, lastly, this could be the most interesting out of what we found thus far: Which issue do you wish the Republican candidates spent more time on?
Overwhelmingly, the economy came up as first. Forty-five percent said the economy; 13 percent said health care; 10 percent said the war in Iraq.
Now, the economy is a big issue right now. Of course, we got a weaker than expected jobs report, the worst unemployment level in two years.
Recession was not even brought up during this debate. We'll have to see what the Democrats say as far as the boards lighting up to their response on the economy. Also, really quick, we want to give you some real-time sound bites from our sound board right now. People are typing in their thoughts, real time. Health care is a big issue.
Cathy (ph) is a mother. She's saying, "As a mother, I'm most concerned about health care. My family has health care, but I'm distressed for those who don't. We do need a change."
Another issue people brought up was McCain. McCain said he is not taking a bigger part in the debate right now.
So, Diane, that's what we have for you.
SAWYER: So, saying that McCain didn't weigh in enough in the debate.
I've got a question for you. Can I put it on there? Because I've got a spontaneous answer. (inaudible)
Biggest surprise? Anybody surprised in a big way about anything that happened in the debate? Love to hear the answer to that coming up.
GOLODRYGA: And we will get that.
SAWYER: All right.
And our thanks to you, Bianna.
And when we take a break, we will come back with George Stephanopoulos, who's going to examine the Democrats and what's ahead for them in the next debate, as they get ready to join forces, sit down.
And Charlie Gibson moderates.

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Top 25 Countries for Property Rights

The Gettysburg Address

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

-- Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

List of the Enumerated Powers of Congress

Section 8: The Congress shall have power To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

To establish post offices and post roads;

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

To provide and maintain a navy;

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings;—And

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.

A List of American Third Parties

* America First Party (2002) * American Party (1968) * America's Independent Party (2008) * Boston Tea Party (2006) * Communist Party of the United States of America (1919) * Constitution Party (1992) * Florida Whig Party (2006) * Green Party (1996) * Independence Party of America (2007) * Libertarian Party (1971) * Moderate Party (2006) * Modern Whig Party (2008) * National Socialist Movement (1959) * New American Independent Party (2004) * Objectivist Party (2008) * Party for Socialism and Liberation (2004) * Peace and Freedom Party (1967) * Pirate Party of the United States (2006) * Progressive Labor Party (1961) * Prohibition Party (1869) * Reform Party of the United States of America (1995) * Socialist Party USA (1973) * Socialist Workers Party (1938) * United States Marijuana Party (2002) * Unity Party of America (2004) * Workers Party (2003) * Working Families Party (1998) Source: Wikipedia

Speakers of the House

1st Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, Apr 01, 1789

2nd Jonathan Trumbull, Connecticut, Oct 24, 1791

3rd Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg, Pennsylvania, Dec 02, 1793

4th, 5th Jonathan Dayton, New Jersey, Dec 07, 1795

6th Theodore Sedgwick, Massachusetts, Dec 02, 1799

7th-9th Nathaniel Macon, North Carolina, Dec 07, 1801

10th, 11th Joseph B. Varnum, Massachusetts, Oct 26, 1807

12th, 13th Henry Clay, Kentucky, Nov 04, 1811

13th Langdon Cheves, South Carolina, Jan 19, 1814

14th-16th Henry Clay, Kentucky, Dec 04, 1815

16th John W. Taylor, New York, Nov 15, 1820

17th Philip P. Barbour, Virginia, Dec 04, 1821

18th Henry Clay, Kentucky, Dec 01, 1823

19th John W. Taylor, New York, Dec 05, 1825

20th-22nd Andrew Stevenson, Virginia, Dec 03, 1827

23rd John Bell, Tennessee, Jun 02, 1834

24th, 25th James K. Polk, Tennessee, Dec 07, 1835

26th Robert M.T. Hunter, Virginia, Dec 16, 1839

27th John White, Kentucky, May 31, 1841

28th John W. Jones, Virginia, Dec 04, 1843

29th John W. Davis, Indiana, Dec 01, 1845

30th Robert C. Winthrop, Massachusetts, Dec 06, 1847

31st Howell Cobb, Georgia, Dec 22, 1849

32nd, 33rd Linn Boyd, Kentucky, Dec 01, 1851

34th Nathaniel P. Banks, Massachusetts, Feb 02, 1856

35th James L. Orr, South Carolina, Dec 07, 1857

36th William Pennington, New Jersey, Feb 01, 1860

37th Galusha A. Grow, Pennsylvania, Jul 04, 1861

38th-40th Schuyler Colfax, Indiana, Dec 07, 1863

40th Theodore M. Pomeroy,New York, Mar 03, 1869

41st-43rd James G. Blaine, Maine, Mar 04, 1869

44th Michael C. Kerr, Indiana, Dec 06, 1875

44th-46th Samuel J. Randall, Pennsylvania, Dec 04, 1876

47th J. Warren Keifer, Ohio, Dec 05, 1881

48th-50th John G. Carlisle, Kentucky, Dec 03, 1883

51st Thomas B. Reed, Maine, Dec 02, 1889

52nd, 53rd Charles F. Crisp, Georgia, Dec 08, 1891

54th, 55th Thomas B. Reed, Maine, Dec 02, 1895

56th, 57th David B. Henderson, Iowa, Dec 04, 1899

58th-61st Joseph G. Cannon, Illinois, Nov 09, 1903

62nd-65th James Beauchamp Clark, Missouri, Apr 04, 1911

66th-68th Frederick H. Gillett, Massachusetts, May 19, 1919

69th-71st Nicholas Longworth, Ohio, Dec 07, 1925

72nd John N. Garner, Texas, Dec 07, 1931

73rd Henry T. Rainey, Illinois, Mar 09, 1933

74th Joseph W. Byrns, Tennessee, Jan 03, 1935

74th-76th William B. Bankhead, Alabama, Jun 04, 1936

76th-79th Sam Rayburn, Texas, Sep 16, 1940

80th Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Massachusetts, Jan 03, 1947

81st, 82nd Sam Rayburn, Texas, Jan 03, 1949

83rd Joseph W. Martin, Jr., Massachusetts, Jan 03, 1953

84th-87th Sam Rayburn, Texas, Jan 05, 1955

87th-91st John W. McCormack, Massachusetts, Jan 10, 1962

92nd-94th Carl B. Albert, Oklahoma, Jan 21, 1971

95th-99th Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Massachusetts, Jan 04, 1977

100th, 101st James C. Wright, Jr., Texas, Jan 06, 1987

101st-103rd Thomas S. Foley, Washington, Jun 06, 1989

104th, 105th Newt Gingrich, Georgia, Jan 04, 1995

106th-109th J. Dennis Hastert, Illinois, Jan 06, 1999

110th, 111th Nancy Pelosi, California, Jan 04, 2007

112th, 113th, 114th John Boehner, Ohio, Jan, 2011

Conservative, Republican & Libertarian Celebrities

Aaron Tippin
Adam Carolla
Adam Sandler
Al Leiter
Alabama
Alan Jackson
Alice Cooper
Amy Grant
Andy Garcia
Angie Harmon
Anita Louise
Ann Miller
Arnold Palmer
Avenged Sevenfold
Barret Swatek
Belinda Carlisle
Ben Stein
Bill Belichick
Billy Ray Cyrus
Bo Derek
Bobby Bowden
Bobby Steele
Brooks and Dunn
Bruce Boxleitner
Bruce Willis
Candace Bushnell
Candace Cameron Bure
Carrie Underwood
Catherine Hicks
Chad Sexton
Charlie Daniels
Charlton Heston
Chelsea Noble
Cheryl Ladd
Chris Evert
Chuck Norris
Cindy Williams
Clint Black
Clint Eastwood
Connie Stevens
Craig T. Nelson
Crystal Bernard
Curt Schilling
Daddy Yankee
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Danny Aiello
Darryl Worley
Dave Mustaine
Dave Smalley
David Lynch
Deanna Lund
Delta Burke
Dennis Franz
Dennis Miller
Dick Van Patten
Dina Merrill
Dixie Carter
Don Shula
Drew Carey
Eazy-E
Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Emma Caulfield
Ernie Banks
Ethel Merman
Eva Gabor
Frankie Avalon
Gail O'Grady
Gary Sinise
Gerald McRaney
Ginger Rogers
Gloria Estefan
Gretchen Wilson
Hank Williams
Hank Williams Jr.
Heather Locklear
Heather Whitestone
Hedda Hopper
Heidi Montag
Helen Hayes
Hilary Duff
India Allen
Jack Nicklaus
Jackie Mason
Jaclyn Smith
James Brown
James Caan
James Caviezel
James Woods
Jamie Farr
Jane Wyman
Janine Turner
Jason Sehorn
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeff Baxter
Jennifer Flavin
Jerry Bruckheimer
Jinx Falkenburg
Joan Rivers
Joe Escalante
Joe Perry
John Elway
John Malkovich
John Ratzenberger
John Rich
Johnny Ramone
Jon Cryer
Jon Voight
June Allyson
Kansas
Karl Malone
Kathie Lee Gifford
Kathy Ireland
Keith Morris
Kellie Pickler
Kelsey Grammar
Kenny Chesney
Kerri Strug
Kid Rock
Kim Alexis
Kirk Cameron
Lance Armstrong
Lara Flynn Boyle
Larry the Cable Guy
Laura Prepon
LeAnn Rimes
Lee Ann Womack
Lee Greenwood
Lee Ving
Leeann Tweeden
Lorenzo Lamas
Loretta Lynn
Lorrie Morgan
Lou Ferrigno
Louella Parsons
Lynard Skynard
Lynn Swann
Margaret Hamilton
Marie Osmond
Mark Chesnutt
Martina McBride
Mary Hart
Mary Lou Retton
Matt Hasselbeck
Maureen O'Hara
Meat Loaf
Mel Gibson
Merle Haggard
Michael W. Smith
Mike Ditka
Mike Love
Morgan Brittany
Naomi Judd
Nick Lachey
Nolan Ryan
Norm McDonald
Pat Sajak
Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Heaton
Paula Prentiss
Pete Sampras
R. Lee Ermey
Rachel Hunter
Randy Travis
Rebecca St. James
Ric Flair
Richard Petty
Rick Schroeder
Ricky Skaggs
Rip Torn
Robert Conrad
Robert Davi
Robert Duvall
Roger Penske
Ron Silver
Salvador Dali
Sam Shepard
Sammy Haggar
Sara Evans
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Scott Baio
Sela Ward
Shannen Doherty
Shawnee Smith
Shirley Jones
Shirley Temple
Skrewdriver
Stephen Baldwin
Styx
Susan Lucci
Tammy Grimes
Ted Nugent
Tim Tebow
Tippi Hedrin
Tom Clancy
Tom Selleck
Tony Danza
Trace Adkins
Tracy Scoggins
Travis Tritt
Type O Negative
Victoria Jackson
Vince Flynn
Vincent Gallo
Wayne Newton
Wilfred Brimley
Yaphet Kotto
Yvette Mimieux
Zig Ziglar

The Interested American Ranking of the Presidents of the United States of America

Abraham Lincoln
Ronald Reagan
James Madison
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington
John Adams
James K. Polk
William McKinley
Calvin Coolidge
William Taft
George W. Bush
Theodore Roosevelt
James Monroe
Andrew Jackson
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Harry S. Truman
Benjamin Harrison
John F. Kennedy
Zachary Taylor
Benjamin Harrison
Ulysses Grant
Grover Cleveland
Chester Arthur
Martin Van Buren
John Tyler
William Henry Harrison
George HW Bush
John Q. Adams
Gerald Ford
Millard Fillmore
Franklin Pierce
Rutherford B. Hayes
Warren Harding
Andrew Johnson
James Buchanan
Herbert Hoover
Bill Clinton
Richard Nixon

Franklin D. Roosevelt
James Carter
Woodrow Wilson
Barack Hussein Obama
Lyndon Baines Johnson

45 Goals of the Communist Party (1963)

01. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
02. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
03. Develop the illustion that total disarmament by the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
04. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
05. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
06. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
07. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
08. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under the supervision of the U.N.
09. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand [or treat].
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction [over domestic problems. Give the World Court jurisdiction] over nations and individuals alike.

Ranking Countries by Economic Freedom

Hong Kong
Singapore
Australia
New Zealand
Ireland
Switzerland
Canada
United States
Denmark
Chile
United Kingdom
Mauritius
Bahrain
Luxembourg
The Netherlands
Estonia
Finland
Iceland
Japan
Macau
Sweden
Austria
Germany
Cyprus
Saint Lucia
Georgia
Botswana
Lithuania
Belgium
South Korea
El Salvador
Uruguay
Czech Republic
Slovakia
Spain
Norway
Armenia
Qatar
Barbados
Mexico
Kuwait
Oman
Israel
Peru
United Arab Emirates
The Bahamas
Malta
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Latvia
Hungary
Jordan
Albania
Costa Rica
Trinidad and Tobago
Macedonia
Jamaica
Colombia
Malaysia
Panama
Slovenia
Portugal
Romania
France
Saudi Arabia
Thailand
Turkey
Montenegro
Madagascar
Dominica
Poland
South Africa
Greece
Italy
Bulgaria
Uganda
Namibia
Cape Verde
Belize
Kyrgyz Republic
Paraguay
Kazakhstan
Guatemala
Samoa
Fiji
Dominican Republic
Ghana
Mongolia
Lebanon
Burkina Faso
Morocco
Croatia
Rwanda
Egypt
Tunisia
Azerbaijan
Tanzania
Nicaragua
Honduras
Zambia
Kenya
Swaziland
Bhutan
Serbia
Algeria
Nigeria
Cambodia
Vanuatu
Philippines
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mozambique
Mali
Brazil
Indonesia
Benin
Gabon
Pakistan
Gambia
Senegal
Sri Lanka
Yemen
Malawi
Cote d'Ivoire
India
Moldova
Papua New Guinea
Tonga
Tajikistan
Niger
Nepal
Suriname
Cameroon
Mauritania
Guinea
Argentina
Ethiopia
Bangladesh
Laos
Djibouti
China
Haiti
Micronesia
Russia
Vietnam
Syria
Bolivia
Ecuador
Maldives
Sao Tome and Principe
Belarus
Equatorial Guinea
Central African Republic
Guyana
Angola
Lesotho
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Uzbekistan
Chad
Burundi
Togo
Ukraine
Liberia
Timor-Leste
Comoros
Kiribati
Guinea-Bissau
Iran
Republic of Congo
Solomon Islands
Turkmenistan
Democratic Republic of Congo
Libya
Venezuela
Burma
Eritrea
Cuba
Zimbabwe
North Korea

Not Indexed:
Afghanistan
Iraq
Liechtenstein
Sudan

Source: 2010 Index of Economic Freedom, The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal.

The Bill of Rights

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Top Conservative Colleges in America

Ave Maria University, CONS
Benedictine College, CONS
Brighham Young University, PR08, CONS,
Calvin College, USN06,
Cedarville University, EHOW
Christendom College, YAF10, CONS,
College of the Ozarks, YAF10, PR08,
Evangel University, CONS
Franciscan University of Steubenville, YAF10, CONS, EHOW
Grove City College, YAF10, PR08, CONS,
Harding University, YAF10
Hampden-Sydney College, PR08,
Hillsdale College, YAF10, PR08, CONS
The King's College, YAF10, CONS,
Liberty University, YAF10, USN06, CONS,
Newberry College, CONS
Ohio Wesleyan University, EHOW
Patrick Henry College, YAF10, CONS,
Regent University, YAF10
Saint Vincent College, YAF10
Thomas Aquinas College, YAF10, CONS,
Thomas More College, YAF10
United States Airforce Academy, PR08
United States Coast Guard Academy, CONS
United States Merchant Marine Academy, PR08
United States Naval Academy, PR08
University of Dallas, PR08, CONS
Wheaton College, PR08
Wisconsin Lutheran College, YAF10

Sources:
CONS — Conservapedia
EHOW — eHow.com
PR08 — Princeton Review 2008.
YAF10 — Young America's Foundation 2009-2010.
USN06 — US News and World Report 2006.

The Worst Mass Murderers in History

1. Mao Tse Tung (China) Roughly 70 million murdered.
2. Josef Stalin (Soviet Union) Roughly 23 million murdered.
3. Adolf Hitler (Germany) Roughly 12 million murdered.
4. Ismail Enver (Turkey) Roughly 2.5 million murdered.
5. Pol Pot (Cambodia) Roughly 1.7 million murdered.

Hirohito (Japan)
Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
Saddam Hussein (Iraq)
Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam)
Kim Il Sung (North Korea)
Ion Antonescu (Romania)
Fidel Castro (Cuba)
Che Guevara (Argentina)
Robespierre (France)
Idi Amin (Uganda)
Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
Radovan Karadzic (Bosnia)
Francisco Franco (Spain)
Osama Bin Laden (Al-Qaeda)

600 Most Common Surnames in the USA

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Monday, January 7, 2008

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Trending on The Interested American

Subscribe!

Interested American Stat Counter

Twitter Feed

Top 25 Countries for Property Rights

The Interested Archive

The Gettysburg Address

TOP SHELF STUFF

List of the Enumerated Powers of Congress

A List of American Third Parties

Best States for Business (2009)

Speakers of the House

Maps

BLOATED Bastids: List of US Government Departments and Agences

Conservative, Republican & Libertarian Celebrities

The Interested American Ranking of the Presidents of the United States of America

45 Goals of the Communist Party (1963)

List of All United States Supreme Court Justices

Ranking Countries by Economic Freedom

The Bill of Rights

Right to Work States

Top Conservative Colleges in America

The Worst Mass Murderers in History