Happy Memorial Day

Never forget:



A little history of Memorial Day:

The Greecing Of America

The people simply are not capable of properly overseeing representatives who are so far detached from them. Repeal the 17th Amendment so that people will focus on those legislators they can oversee, and state legislatures will ensure that demagogues in the Senate won't destroy the nation will foolish ponzi schemes.

Time to Fight Back Against the EPA's Power Grab

Time to Fight Back Against the EPA's Power Grab; By Phil Kerpen; FOXNews

President Obama has been very made clear that his top domestic priorities are health care and global warming. We all know what happened on health care. Now the date is set for the key Senate showdown on global warming: June 10. That’s when the Senate will vote on a resolution introduced by Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (S.J. Res. 26) that would overturn the EPA’s global warming regulations. It’s not subject to filibuster. There is no place for weak-kneed senators to hide. In just two weeks we’ll know where every member of the Senate stands.

As I’ve previously discussed here in the Fox Forum and documented on www.ObamaChart.com, the Obama administration is not waiting for Congress to enact a national cap-and-trade program to move ahead with its global warming agenda.

Under the watchful eye of White House Climate czar Carol Browner (who originally developed the legal theory of using the 1970 Clean Air Act as a global warming law, bypassing Congress) the EPA is moving forward on a staggering regulatory power grab that includes about 18,000 pages of appendices and will eventually regulate nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy.

The EPA is out to regulate cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, planes, trains, ships, boats, tractors, mining equipment, RVs, lawn mowers, fork lifts… you get the idea. And there is no control technology for greenhouse gases, so the EPA would require complete redesigns and operational changes.

While there are some promising legal challenges to the EPA regulations being pursued, we can’t count on the courts. After all it was a 5-to-4 2007 Supreme Court decision in “Massachusetts v. EPA” that paved the way for EPA’s global warming mischief.

The Democrats have a huge majority in the Senate, but many Democrats will not walk the party line on this one. To start, three Democrats are co-sponsors of Murkowski’s S. J. Res. 26: Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Ben Nelson (Neb.), and Mary Landrieu (La.).

Read the rest here.

Comment: One of the many consequences of the 17th Amendment, special interest influence. Repeal the 17th and special interest groups lose a major ally in the "mini-presidents" that occupy the US Senate.

Senator Grassley looking into training costs at Harvard

Senator Grassley looking into training costs at Harvard; The Boston Globe

Senator Chuck Grassley is investigating the cost of training top federal employees -- at taxpayer expense -- at several institutions, including Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Read the whole article here

Comment: Like war, education is a racket; no matter the level. But it all comes down to out of control spending, doesn't it.

Senator Orrin Hatch on Arizona Immigration Law and Utah

Senator Orrin Hatch on Arizona Immigration Law and Utah; KCSG.Com

“I’ve long said that Arizona was forced to pass this law because of a catastrophic failure by the federal government to secure the border, thus allowing dangerous drugs, gangs and crime to spill into its communities. Given the stakes, who can blame Arizonans for taking this action."

Read the whole article here.

Comment: Well, where has Mr. Hatch and his Republican colleagues been hiding all these years as this "national" problem has festered? No doubt living the high life in Washington DC.

Compromise Reached on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Compromise Reached on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell;" FOXNews.com

Senate and House proponents of repealing the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy have reached a compromise, a senior Senate Democratic aide tells Fox, that would eventually allow gays to serve openly in the armed forces.

“Yes, a compromise was reached that would implement repeal after the DOD report and certification by the POTUS and DOD," the aide said.

This would comport with a request made recently by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who favors the repeal, that any scrapping of the 1990's-era law wait for a full review going on now at DOD on implementation. That review is expected to wrap up in December.

The major players here: Senate Armed Services Cmte Chairman Carl Levin, D-MI, Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-CT, and Iraq war veteran and Cong. Patrick Murphy, D-PA.

Read the rest here.

More Spending: Obama adviser calls for new ‘mini-stimulus’

Obama adviser calls for new ‘mini-stimulus;’ The Financial Times

The Obama administration made a strong plea to Congress on Monday to grit its teeth and pass a new set of spending measures – dubbed the “second stimulus” by some economists – in order to help dig the economy “out of a deep valley”.

The call for action, which was made by Lawrence Summers, Barack Obama’s senior economic adviser, who urged Congress to pass up to $200bn (£138.9bn) in spending measures, came at the same time as Mr Obama asked Capitol Hill to grant him powers to cut “unnecessary spending”.

Read the rest here.

Comment: I wonder what the states think about more spending and deficit growth, which only weakens their state economies? Well we won't know until the states get representation in Congress again, will we.

Of Course..Dodd: Blumenthal 'will be OK' in Conn. Senate race

Dodd: Blumenthal 'will be OK' in Conn. Senate race; The Associated Press

Sen. Chris Dodd says he's confident that fellow Democrat and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal "will be OK" in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

Dodd spoke to reporters Monday in Hartford about the controversy over Blumenthal's misstatements about his military record. Blumenthal is running to replace Dodd, who is retiring.

Dodd says voters know Blumenthal well and will take into account his accomplishments over the years.

Blumenthal has said on several occasions that he served in Vietnam but in fact served stateside as a member of the Marine Reserve during the Vietnam era.

Blumenthal apologized in an e-mail sent late Sunday to the Hartford Courant.

Dodd says he believes the controversy has been "blown out of proportion."

Comment: To this retired veteran, I don't think this has been blown out of proportion. It is a slap in the face of every family member with a son or daughter who died in combat. It's a slap in the face to every man or woman that served honorably who proudly served and didn't go and never lied about the fact. I think the list could go on for some time detailing this disgrace.

The bottom line is that Blumenthal lied, not once but several times. This wasn't embellishing of a story, it was a complete fabrication and an utter lie. We all know we can't trust politicians, heck Dodd demonstrates this everyday, but why put someone in Congress that could be, and most likely is, a compulsive liar?

The citizens of Connecticut have the responsibility to practice virtuous democracy. There's no fail safe built into this process to protect them from their bad choice if he is a compulsive liar or worse. The protection of their state and our country resides in their virtue. We can complain all day about politicians, but this is a distinct moment where the citizen will ultimately be responsible. Not Mr. Blumenthal, the Democrat Party or even Mr. Dodd, but squarely with the Connecticut citizenry.

Senate Takes Up 'Emergency' War Bill Despite Obama Pledge to End Practice

Senate Takes Up 'Emergency' War Bill Despite Obama Pledge to End Practice; FOXNews.com

A year after President Obama pledged to end the practice of funding the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with "emergency" spending bills, the Senate is taking up a $60 billion request that would do exactly that.

The spending bill, which includes $33 billion for the two wars in addition to disaster relief funds and aid for Haiti, is running headlong into concern from war-weary Democrats and deficit-conscious Republicans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called the bill a "heavy lift" in her chamber. But the Senate, which is taking up the request first, could be the scene of a spending stand-off between Democrats and Republicans.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., plans to offer an amendment requiring Congress to offset the cost of the package with spending cuts elsewhere. He slammed the administration for continuing to use the "emergency" supplemental to fund the wars -- by designating the spending bill as "emergency," Congress avoids having to find a way to pay for it.

"The last day war funding was unforeseen was September 10, 2001," the first-term senator said in a written statement. "This legislation is designed to bail out career politicians who want to avoid the hard work of prioritizing spending."

The Bush administration routinely used supplemental spending bills to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama criticized the practice as a candidate and when he came into office pledged to keep war funding within the traditional budget request.

"For seven years, we have been a nation at war. No longer will we hide its price," he said in his February 2009 address to a joint session of Congress.

When Obama requested $83 billion in additional funding last spring for the wars, he said he would draw the line there. ...

Read the rest here.

Comment: If the states were represented in Congress as the founders intended, do you think they would rubber stamp this black hole; rubber stamp out of control spending with no end in sight?

Taking on Senator Schumer

Taking on Senator Schumer; Live Shots; FOXNews

He took on the Taliban as a clandestine C.I.A. officer, and was one of the first into Kabul during the American invasion in 2001.

Veteran C.I.A. officer Gary Berntsen gained prominence as one of the covert operatives who hunted Osama Bin Laden and spent years going after Al Qaeda terrorists.

Now he has set his sights on a different foe: New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer.

"This is as much of an insurrection against Chuck Schumer in New York as it is an election," says Berntsen, who announced his candidacy as a Republican this weekend.

Berntsen accuses the two term Schumer of supporting policies that have hurt the economy, made America's national security weaker, and believes he is in lock-step with the Obama administration.

"Schumer is a major part of the problem," he says. "He's a force in the Democratic party, he is President Obama's man in the Senate, he is someone who hopes to become the new majority leader."

Berntsen is especially critical of Democratic spending policies.

"The U.S. government owes $14 trillion dollars. Senator Schumer was part of this. The U.S. government has been borrowing money recklessly. By the year 2015 we will owe $20 trillion. Senator Schumer and his peers are passing on a debt not only to our children, but to our grand children. It's complete irresponsibility."

For his part, Schumer doesn't seem worried. He refused to respond to a Fox News request about Berntsen's candidacy, when he held a news conference on a local issue on Long Island, on Friday.

Read the rest here.

Urgent: NY Senator to Introduce Drop-side Crib Legislation

N.Y. senator to introduce drop-side crib legislation; Kids Today

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand plans to introduce legislation this week to ban drop-side cribs, according to the Associated Press.

“There’s a great urgency here. We have to make sure that no parent is unaware that drop-side cribs could kill their children,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said in an Associated Press interview. ...

Read the rest here.

Comment: Really...there's great urgency here? Why not great urgency concerning the economy or corruption on Wall Street or the endless war in Afghanistan and Iraq?

This is another example of the useless legislation and wasting of our tax dollars in time by another of the nanny-state legislator. Certainly Miss Gillibrand's time could be better spent on the issues that will have a much greater effect on her state and the future of children, like the out of control spending in Congress, which has just pushed the deficit to $1.4 trillion. Now that's an urgent problem!

Was Sestak Bribed To Not Run?

Believe it or not Congressman Sestak is the one making the claim that he was offered a job by the administration if he refused to run for the Senate:



Senators cannot get elected without the backing of a party. The parties have made it impossible for competitors to challenge them. Senators care more about their party than about the voters. The idea that the 17th Amendment made Senators more accountable to the people is a joke. Repeal the 17th Amendment, and Senators will be accountable to their state legislatures instead of the national party. Corruption in the Senate will be virtually eliminated since sate legislatures will be better at overseeing their jobs than voters are. Voters care about what politicians say. We need the Senate to be accountable to people who will care more about what they do.

No One Will Bail Out America as EU did for Greece

No one will bail out America as EU did for Greece; Sun Sentinel.com

The European Union has put forth its rescue plan. The U.S. stock markets have stabilized. And the protests in Greece have receded from the headlines. All's well, right?

No, not even close.

The United States racked up an all-time monthly federal budget deficit for April, $82.7 billion in red ink, which was four times higher than the monthly amount for April of 2009. What's even scarier is that the feds usually rack up surpluses in April as people file their tax returns.

This past April, though, government revenues were down 7.9 percent from last year's amount. And the spending spree continues, with forecasts of at least $1.4 trillion in deficits for this year, putting prospects for a national debt over $20 trillion by decade's end very much on track.

To blissfully borrow amounts at astronomical levels is dangerous to the health of the country's economy. It is a disaster in the making. ...

Comment: Can we expect the US Senate to act responsibly and prevent a crisis that is barreling down on us and will be far worse than the Great Depression? Doubtful.

Is a $1.4 trillion deficit reason enough to repeal the 17th Amendment and return the states place within the Federal Government? Is it reason enough to put a responsible body back into Washington? Time to repeal the 17th Amendment folks.

Republican criticizes Paul's civil rights views

Republican criticizes Paul's civil rights views; Reuters

The head of the Republican Party criticized Senate candidate Rand Paul on Sunday for questioning the landmark Civil Rights Act and said the Kentucky libertarian's views were out of step with the party and country.

Michael Steele, the first black chairman of the Republican National Committee, said Paul's criticism of provisions in the 1964 Civil Rights Act arose from the candidate's libertarian philosophy but "his philosophy is misplaced in these times."

"I don't think it's where the country is right now. The country litigated the issue of separate but equal," Steele told the "Fox News Sunday" show. "I think in this case Rand Paul's philosophy got in the way of reality."

Comment: Steele demonstrates why he's not the right guy for the future of the Republican Party, and is working with the MSM to sink Paul. Paul's comments have nothing to do with discrimination, as the MSM is trying propagandize, rather, were simply about the right of private property, a right too many Republicans have failed miserably to protect. Rand Paul is more republican than Steele will ever be.

For additional comments on this subject, check out Thomas Woods' weblog here.

Kerry – Lieberman: Corrupt Climate Science Used To Destroy US Economy

Kerry – Lieberman: Corrupt Climate Science Used To Destroy US Economy; Canada Free Press

The Kerry - Lieberman American Power Act (APA) is a disastrous, unnecessary solution for a non-existent problem. Worse, it’s a problem that exists only in a grossly inadequate computer model whose projections have never been correct. It is predicated on the false assumption that an increase in CO2 causes a temperature increase. Every record of any duration for any period in Earth’s history shows temperature increases before CO2 increases. The false assumption is the basis of all global warming and climate change used in the corrupted research and models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is impossible to imagine such an unjustified basis for any action, except to undermine the US economy for political gain.

It will make the US economy uncompetitive, dramatically increase the cost of living and give more power to the government. This is already proven in the failure of countries that have pursued similar alternative energies and green economies.

The name of the Act is in the deceptive tradition of climate-based energy policy. It was carbon credits, then carbon tax, cap and trade, and now the APA but they are all the same and completely unnecessary. Carbon credits were designed as a global equalization of wealth. Developed nations had to pay for the sin of making their money by using fossil fuels and producing the planet destroying global warming. Cap and Trade appeared virtuous by capping the planet-destroying CO2 while creating trade and business opportunity. It is actually the same old tax grab with more government control. The APA invokes patriotism and implies energy independence, especially from oil. The spill in the Gulf is unfortunate but has reinforced the push. As Rahm Emmanuel, White House Chief of Staff said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.”

Read the whole article here with attached URLs.

Bill for Afghan War Could Run into the Trillions

Bill for Afghan War Could Run into the Trillions; By Eli Clifton

The U.S. Senate is moving forward with a 59-billion-dollar spending bill, of which 33.5 billion dollars would be allocated for the war in Afghanistan.

However, some experts here in Washington are raising concerns that the war may be unwinnable and that the money being spent on military operations in Afghanistan could be better spent.

"We're making all of the same mistakes the Soviets made during their time in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989, and they left in defeat having accomplished none of their purposes," Michael Intriligator, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, said Monday at a half-day conference hosted by the New America Foundation and Economists for Peace and Security.

"I think we're repeating that and it's a history we're condemned to repeat," he said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Comment: As this black hole progresses the states have no recourse to stop this runaway spending madness and senseless loss of American life. They would if they had representation in Congress.

Senate Passes Faux Financial "Reform" Bill

Senate Passes Faux Financial "Reform" Bill; Washington's Blog

The Senate passed a financial "reform" bill today by a 59-39 vote which won't fix any of the core problems in the financial system, and won't prevent the next financial crisis.

The bill doesn't include the Volcker Rule (it wasn't even debated), doesn't break up or even substantially rein in the too big to fails, and doesn't force transparency in the derivatives market.

Read the whole post here.

Feingold Statement on Voting 'No' on Ending Debate on the Financial Debate

Feingold's statement:

Feingold Statement on Voting 'No' on Ending Debate on the Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

“After thirty years of giving in to the wishes of Wall Street lobbyists, Congress needs to finally enact tough reforms to prevent Wall Street from driving our economy into the ditch again. We need to eliminate the risk posed to our economy by ‘too big to fail' financial firms and to reinstate the protective firewalls between Main Street banks and Wall Street firms. Unfortunately, these key reforms are not included in the bill. The test for this legislation is a simple one - whether it will prevent another financial crisis. As the bill stands, it fails that test. Ending debate on the bill is finishing before the job is done.

Comment: Giving into Wall Street says it all.

Senate Passes Finance Bill

Senate Passes Finance Bill; The Wall Street Journal

The Senate on Thursday approved the most extensive overhaul of financial-sector regulation since the 1930s, hoping to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis that hit the U.S. economy starting in 2007. The legislation passed the Senate 59 to 39 and must now be reconciled with a similar bill passed by the House of Representatives in December, before it can be sent to President Barack Obama to be signed into law.

The controversial measure, supported by the Obama administration, sets up new regulatory bodies and restricts the actions of banks and other financial firms. It is designed to try to make order of the cascading regulatory chaos that ensued in 2008 when mammoth banks and some unregulated financial firms collapsed, and public funds were used to save them. Among other things, the legislation would:

• Establish a new council of "systemic risk" regulators to monitor growing risks in the financial system, with the goal of preventing companies from becoming too big to fail and stopping asset bubbles from forming, such as the one that led to the housing crisis.

• Create a new consumer protection division within the Federal Reserve charged with writing and enforcing new rules that target abusive practices in businesses such as mortgage lending and credit-card issuance.

• Empower the Federal Reserve to supervise the largest, most complex financial companies to ensure that the government understands the risks and complexities of firms that could pose a risk to the broader economy.

• Allow the government in extreme cases to seize and liquidate a failing financial company in a way that protects taxpayers from future bailouts.

• Give regulators new powers to oversee the giant derivatives market, increasing transparency by forcing most contracts to be traded through third-parties instead of only between banks and their customers. Derivatives, which are complex financial instruments, are often used to hedge risk. Speculative trading in the contracts led to losses at many banks in the 2008 crisis.

Opponents of the bill worry that the government is overreacting, and over-regulating the financial industry. They worry the measures will crimp the free flow of capital in the U.S. economy.

"It will inevitably contract credit," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.), who says the Senate bill "is probably undermining the system…probably making for a weaker system."

Sen. Gregg was one of 37 Republicans to vote against the 1,500-page bill. But the legislation ultimately passed with a narrow bipartisan majority. Four Republicans joined with 53 Democrats and the Senate's two independents in support of the package. Two Democrats voted against the bill, and two senators weren't present for the vote.

Read the whole article here.

Comment: This has to be the most foolish piece of legislation we have seen since the banker bailout. Our congress critters just gave regulatory power to a non-government organization, the Federal Reserve, who is at the root of all the financial problems we have experienced since 2008. On top of that complete regulatory power has been given de facto to Goldman Sachs!

The US Senate has abandon is rightful place to regulate this commerce. Can there be any clearer reason to repeal the 17th Amendment?

Bennett will not run as write-in candidate in Utah

Bennett will not run as write-in candidate in Utah; The Associated Press

Sen. Bob Bennett said on Thursday he will not run as a write-in candidate in this year's race for the U.S. Senate seat in Utah.

He told reporters that polls suggest he would be the strongest candidate in the general election, but he feared that running would further divide the Republican Party in his home state.

Comment: I'm sure there is a nice office waiting for him on K Street to mend his hurt.

Rand Paul Under Fire

John Stossel defends him:



The source of all tyranny is the belief that freedom does not promote virtue.

Senators Load Up Dodd Financial Bill

McClatchy

Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., wants the government to finish building the 700-mile fence between the U.S. and Mexico. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., wants to end the health insurance industry's antitrust protection. West Virginia's two senators want help with mine and oil rig safety.

They all want to add these things to the financial regulatory overhaul bill that's moving through the Senate, even though their ideas have little or nothing to do with oversight of financial markets.

Senators have proposed 326 amendments to the bill, whose chief purpose is to revamp the system that's regulated financial institutions since the Great Depression, but failed to prevent the current deep recession.

The bill could be the last major legislation this Congress approves — and draw enormous media attention — before November's congressional elections. That's why it's attracting a lot of extraneous amendments.

They're like pigs at a trough.

It's past time to restore some sanity to Washington by repealing the 17th Amendment.

Senate climate bill a jobs creator: study

Senate climate bill a jobs creator: study; Reuters

If you believe this one then I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn...

A climate change bill unveiled last week in the U.S. Senate would create hundreds of thousands of jobs as the country moves away from fossil fuels and toward more nuclear energy and renewable sources of power, according to a nonpartisan study released on Thursday.

Between 2011 and 2020, average annual employment in the U.S. increases by 203,000," concluded the study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The study is the first to assess the economic impact of legislation sketched out by Democratic Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman.

U.S. government agencies are in the midst of their own economic analyses, which might not be completed until mid-June.

The Kerry-Lieberman bill, like one passed by the House of Representatives nearly a year ago, aims to cut U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming by encouraging use of alternative fuels such as natural gas, nuclear, wind, biomass and solar power.

Longer term, the Peterson Institute analysis found that job gains from the first decade of the carbon-reduction plan "are clawed back" as energy prices rise and "additional power sector investment becomes more inflationary."

But the authors said that over the period of 2011-2030, "average annual employment is 6,300 jobs higher than business as usual."

The bill needs at least some Republican support to pass the Senate, but so far no Republicans have said they would vote for it this year, ahead of November congressional elections.

When the Kerry-Lieberman draft bill was made public, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said it was "little more than a job-killing national energy tax."

McConnell was not immediately available for comment on the new assessment.

According to the Peterson Institute study, if the legislation became law, it would bring significant job increases during the first decade in several sectors, including 165,000 in nuclear power, 19,000 in renewable energy, 28,000 in biofuels and 96,000 related to federally-funded coal industry efforts to develop cleaner technology.

Comment: Show me where there is a measurable product being produced, electricity? There is none, it's smoke and mirrors and fascism at the core of the bill. Unless the United States starts building goods, and power plants are not goods, we'll continue to spiral down economically. Heck even if every household in America had a wind or hamster driven turbine attached to it, the turbine would be built in China. Our tax laws kill any chance of industry growth.

For those of you in Michigan and Ohio, do you think the out of work autoworkers are going to find jobs in the nuclear industry; heck no. You just can't absorb one industry into another.

This bill will kill the US economy. It's government control of the worst kind, and the construction will be subsidized by the taxpayer. This is part of the plan to get the energy industry behind the bill; why else would they support it.

This is madness. What this study is about is that the US Government along with the energy industry got a lot of Post hole Diggers together to tell them what they wanted to hear, plain and simple.

SA@TAC - No Mercy for Incumbents

Elena Kagan confirmation hearings to begin June 28

Elena Kagan confirmation hearings to begin June 28; The Washington Post

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Wednesday that the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court justice nominee, Elena Kagan, will begin Monday, June 28. The Associated Press reports that "the schedule should allow the hearings to be completed before senators go home for a weeklong break in early July," and then be able to vote before they adjourn for August recess.

Sestak ousts Specter in Democratic primary

Sestak ousts Specter in Democratic primary; Philly.com

Rep. Joe Sestak, riding a wave of discontent with Washington, defeated incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary Tuesday, ending the career of the longest serving senator in Pennsylvania history.

Specter, 80, left the Republican Party last year in hopes of surviving, but lost his bid for a sixth term despite the backing of the Democratic establishment, from President Obama to Gov. Rendell and most of organized labor.

Read the rest of the article here.

Comment: A victory for those that desire the complete break up of the oligarchy. This was long overdue.

WWF Emerges as Leading Lobbyist on Senate Climate Bill

WWF Emerges as Leading Lobbyist on Senate Climate Bill; The New York Times

This article provides a number of interesting, yet alarming, facts for liberty oriented folks to be aware.

An environmental group that made its name battling on behalf of pandas, polar bears and pelicans now is fighting for what it fears is a politically imperiled species: U.S. climate legislation that has a global perspective.

The World Wildlife Fund spent the past year lobbying zealously for a bill that would provide assistance preserving forests, funds to spark demand for clean technologies in developing countries and money to help the most vulnerable countries adapt to climate-induced changes. It won almost none of what it wanted in the legislation (pdf) from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

The group now is forming strategies to persuade lawmakers that those international provisions are necessary and that climate legislation needs to become law.

"We need to do a better job of explaining why it's in America's best interest" to include international provisions, said Lou Leonard, WWF's director of international climate policy. "We need to explain all of it, and hopefully each of those reasons will resonate with different groups of people, and we'll be able to build enough support to get it in."

The effort comes as part of WWF's stepped-up lobbying campaign. The organization, which operates in 100 countries, is a relatively new entrant in climate lobbying but shifted its approach more than a year ago. Climate change increasingly is seen as one of the biggest threats to biodiversity, Leonard said.

Read the entire article here.

Comment: The WWF is one of a number of special interest groups that wields tremendous power within our government because of its association with the oligarchs in the US Senate, which comes at great expense to our nation, the states and the citizenry. Without the construct of senate in its present form special interest groups like the WWF's influence would diminish tremendously if the 17th Amendment was repealed and the place of the states was restored within the original structure of the Federal Government.

Senate amendment broadens states' leeway in cases against national banks

Senate amendment broadens states' leeway in cases against national banks; Washington Post

The Senate overwhelmingly approved Tuesday an amendment to the financial regulation bill awarding states more power to pursue cases against national banks, but preserving the right of a federal bank regulator to stop states from pressing some consumer protection cases.

The amendment sponsored by Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) passed 80 to 18.

Under the amendment, state attorneys general gain the ability to pursue consumer protection cases against national banks based on rules set by a new consumer protection bureau, which would be housed in the Federal Reserve. The consumer watchdog will have the authority to enforce its own rules, but the Carper amendment would allow state attorneys general to play a role in enforcing those rules as well. ...

But the amendment also contains a provision, opposed by consumer groups, giving the Office of Comptroller of the Currency the ability to stop states from pursuing some consumer protection cases even if there is no federal law covering the issue. Under the compromise, there is a lower standard for the OCC to preempt state cases than was originally contained in the legislation.

Read the whole article here.

Comment: This is not a "win" for the states, but for the banks.

Break the special interest monopoly in the US Senate and the states (citizenry) will get real victories, not this smoke and mirror display created by Carper.

Kagan's Goldman Ties Won't Hurt Supreme Court Chances, White House Says

Kagan's Goldman Ties Won't Hurt Supreme Court Chances, White House Says; Wall Street Journal

The White House said Friday that Elena Kagan's membership on an advisory panel for the securities firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. wouldn't disqualify her for a position on the Supreme Court.

Ms. Kagan, the solicitor general, is considered a top contender to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. President Barack Obama is expected to announce his nomination next week. An announcement could come "at any moment," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday.

Comment: Why should it.

Rand Paul Wins GOP Nomination

AP calls it for Paul via Hot Air:

Political novice Rand Paul rode support from tea party activists to victory in Kentucky’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, delivering a jolt to the GOP establishment and providing fresh evidence of widespread voter discontent in a turbulent midterm election season.

Paul had 59 percent of the vote—with returns counted from 29 percent of the precincts—to 37 percent for Secretary of State Trey Grayson, who had been recruited to run by the state’s dominant Republican, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Here's our prior posts on Rand Paul.

Update: Rand Paul thanks his supporters for their hard work as he accepts the nomination:

Help The EPA Create More Rules

The EPA is asking for people to create videos that will "explain federal rulemaking and motivate others to participate in the rulemaking process." Here's a submission from ReasonTV that I voted for:



ReasonTV has a couple more submissions. See them here.

NYT: CT-Sen Candidate Misrepresented Vietnam Record

NYT: CT-Sen Candidate Misrepresented Vietnam Record; Rachel Slajda; TPMMuckraker

The New York Times reported last night that Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's attorney general and the Democratic frontrunner in the Senate race there, has made misleading remarks about serving in the Vietnam War.

Blumenthal never fought in Vietnam. He received five deferments before joining the Marine Reserve.

But in speeches to veterans' groups, he's sometimes given a different impression.

"We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam," he said in Norwalk, Conn., in March 2008. He's also spoken repeatedly about the way soldiers returning from Vietnam were treated, using the pronoun "we."

"When we returned, we saw nothing like this," he said in Bridgeport in 2003. "Let us do better by this generation of men and women."

Other times, however, he's been more clear.

"Although I did not serve in Vietnam, I have seen firsthand the effects of military action, and no one wants it to be the first resort," he said in a debate this March.

Asked about his record by the Times, Blumenthal said, "My intention has always been to be completely clear and accurate and straightforward, out of respect to the veterans who served in Vietnam."

Read the whole article here.

Senate primaries today may give hint of voters’ mood

Senate primaries today may give hint of voters’ mood; The Boston Globe

Three Senate primaries will offer some signs today of the voters’ mood as the midterm elections near.

In Pennsylvania, Senator Arlen Specter, a Republican turned Democrat, is trying to hold off US Representative Joe Sestak for the party’s nomination. Sestak has spent much of the campaign painting Specter as a political opportunist for switching parties last year.

In Kentucky, Rand Paul, who has strong backing from Tea Party activists, is seeking the Republican nomination in a race against Trey Grayson, the secretary of state. Grayson is backed by Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader and Kentucky’s senior senator.

In Arkansas, Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter will try to oust the incumbent Democrat, Senator Blanche Lincoln, who has been criticized by her opponent for failing to support the health care overhaul legislation. ...

Read the whole article here

Comment: Voters are unhappy with congress, but that will never stop or dissuade the elected from increasing the size of government, consolidating more power within the federal realm, or thwarting the US Constitution. However, by returning the states rightful place within the federal structure will our views be heard and acted upon.

Gerald Celente: The American Finance Reform is Just a Show

HT: Aude Sapere



Comment: The finance reform Dodd and crew are conducting is just a show as Mr. Celente stated. We won't get anything more while the states are blocked from their rightful place within the Federal Government. Repealing the 17th Amendment would be the single most important step to restore the balance of power the framers of our country originally established and lost in 1913. Once the balance is restored we then can archive actual finance reform.

Senate Votes to Keep Small Banks Under Federal Reserve's Oversight

Senate votes to keep small banks under Federal Reserve's oversight; The Washington Post

The Federal Reserve would continue to oversee smaller banks around the country under a measure adopted Wednesday in the Senate, marking a major victory for the Fed as lawmakers prepare to overhaul the nation's financial regulations.

Under the bill originally introduced by Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), the central bank would have been stripped of the ability to regulate all but the handful of banks that hold assets above $50 billion. The Fed's leaders had vehemently opposed that proposal, saying it would undermine the central bank's effectiveness.

Lawmakers agreed on Wednesday, passing 91 to 8 an amendment to keep the Fed as the primary supervisor of the thousands of smaller banks across the country.

"This amendment ensures that the nation's monetary policy is connected to Main Street and not just to Wall Street," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

The vote followed a vigorous campaign by Fed leaders -- especially the heads of regional Fed banks, who would have lost most of their regulatory authority. They argued that their oversight of smaller banks provides them a better window into the internal functioning of the economy, noting that those banks have contributed to big economic problems in the past, such as in the 1930s and during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. ...

Read the rest here.

Comment: What this really means is that Wall Street will continue to control our Main Streets, allowing Wall Street to continue to act recklessly and irresponsibility with you and me picking up the tab.

With the repeal of the 17th Amendment reining in Wall Street would happen, and so would the rebuilding of Main Street. However, as long as the pack of thieves are able to do the will of Wall Street in US Senate Main Streets across America will continue to die.

Senate Completes Climate Tax and Corporatist Energy Bill

Senate Gets a Climate and Energy Bill, Modified by a Gulf Spill That Still Grows; The New York Times

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times



The long delayed and much amended Senate plan to deal with global warming and energy was unveiled on Wednesday to considerable fanfare but uncertain prospects. After nearly eight months of negotiations with lawmakers and interest groups, Senators John Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, produced a 987-page bill that tries to limit climate-altering emissions, reduce oil imports and create millions of new energy-related jobs.

Mr. Kerry said the United States was crippled by a broken energy policy and falling behind in the global race for leadership in clean-energy technology.

“We’re threatened by the impacts of a changing climate,” he said in a packed Senate hearing room. “And right now, as one of the worst oil spills in our nation’s history washes onto our shores, no one can doubt how urgently we need a new energy policy in this country. Now is the time to take action.”

It may be difficult, however, for him to persuade the Senate to act. The country is nervously watching efforts to halt the gulf spill, the Senate is torn by deep partisan hostility and the public is uncertain whether the benefits of combating global warming are worth the costs. There is also no assurance that the bill will break through the crowded Senate calendar to reach the floor this year.

No Republicans have stepped forward to support the two senators’ efforts. ...

Here's the truth behind the bill:

There is no economywide cap-and-trade system like that in the House measure, but electric utilities will face limits on their greenhouse-gas emissions and a market will be established to allow them to trade pollution permits. The leader of the main utility industry trade group, Thomas R. Kuhn of the Edison Electric Institute, stood with Mr. Kerry and Mr. Lieberman on Wednesday and endorsed their bill.

The oil industry will have to buy emissions permits, based loosely on the price set in the utility-trading markets. It is expected they will pass along added costs to consumers in the form of higher fuel prices. The American Petroleum Institute said it was withholding judgment until the measure’s effects on the oil and gas industry could be analyzed. Some oil companies, however, including BP and ConocoPhillips, have indicated their support.

Comment: Lieberman, Kerry and Graham have completed what will be a massive new tax on the American people, which will surely kill any economic viability we have remaining and opened the door for a corporatist/fascist consolidation of the energy industry.

When will the states and the American people wake up to this delirium fostered by these "mini" presidents at the behest of globalists?

Senate EPW Minority Releases Report on CRU Controversy

Senate EPW Minority Releases Report on CRU Controversy; Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

Shows Scientists Violated Ethics, Reveals Major Disagreements on Climate Science

The Minority Staff of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works released a report today titled, "‘Consensus' Exposed: The CRU Controversy." The report covers the controversy surrounding emails and documents released from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU). It examines the extent to which those emails and documents affect the scientific work of the UN's IPCC, and how revelations of the IPCC's flawed science impacts the EPA's endangerment finding for greenhouse gases.

The report finds that some of the scientists involved in the CRU controversy violated ethical principles governing taxpayer-funded research and possibly federal laws. In addition, the Minority Staff believes the emails and accompanying documents seriously compromise the IPCC-based "consensus" and its central conclusion that anthropogenic emissions are inexorably leading to environmental catastrophes.

In its examination of the controversy, the Minority Staff found that the scientists:

- Obstructed release of damaging data and information;

- Manipulated data to reach preconceived conclusions;

- Colluded to pressure journal editors who published work questioning the climate science "consensus"; and

- Assumed activist roles to influence the political process.

"This EPW Minority Report shows that the CRU controversy is about far more than just scientists who lack interpersonal skills, or a little email squabble," said Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. "It's about unethical and potentially illegal behavior by some the world's leading climate scientists.

"The report also shows the world's leading climate scientists acting like political scientists, with an agenda disconnected from the principles of good science. And it shows that there is no consensus-except that there are significant gaps in what scientists know about the climate system. It's time for the Obama Administration to recognize this. Its endangerment finding for greenhouse gases rests on bad science. It should throw out that finding and abandon greenhouse gas regulation under the Clean Air Act-a policy that will mean fewer jobs, higher taxes and economic decline."

Link to EPW Minority Report on CRU Controversy

Link to a Sampling of CRU Emails

Link: IPCC Gets the Science Wrong

Link: Endangerment Finding Based on Flawed Science

Laughable Senate Hearings

Jimmy Kimmel mocks how non-serious they are:



He's absolutely right to mock them. These grandstanding politicians only care about appearing to look tough. Behind the scenes, they're all laughing about how they manipulated people into believing that the politicians are on the voters' side.

But if you think Senate hearings are a joke, the confirmation process is a three-ring circus. Senators don't care about a nominee's actual qualifications. Senators are just interested in playing to the audience.

As long as these politicians give lip service to the concerns of their constituents, they can engage in whatever backroom deals they want. Repeal the 17th Amendment and get some people in the federal government who will take their jobs seriously because their bosses will be more interested in what they do rather than what they say.

Senate Reveals New Energy Bill

"It will create millions of jobs! It'll end dependence on foreign oil! It'll feed the poor! It'll cut the deficit! It'll cure baldness and impotency! And it won't cost you one red cent!"

Politicians will make all kinds of idiotic promises to sell their schemes. We can get rid of all the demagogues and snake-oil salesmen (and saleswomen) by repealing the 17th Amendment.

Senate Votes To Audit Federal Reserve

A limited audit (via Hot Air):

"At a time when the Federal Reserve has provided the largest taxpayer bailout in the history of the world, the largest financial institutions in this country, trillion-dollar institutions,” Mr. Sanders said in a floor speech, “the Sanders amendment makes it clear that the Fed can no longer operate in the kind of secrecy that it has operated in forever.”

He added, “For the first time the American people will know exactly who received over $2 trillion in zero or virtually zero-interest loans from the Fed, and they will know the exact terms of those financial arrangements.”

Libertarianism From A To Z

Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron has produced Libertarianism From A to Z, an encyclopedic look at everything from abortion to zoos from an angle consistent with classical liberal thought and insights. Miron's book, which covers tough issues such as civil rights legislation, immigration policy, and much more, is simultaneously provocative and engaging.



It makes sense that the most divisive issues should be settled at the most local level. Politicians at the national level hate that idea because those divisive issues are how they got into office, and how they plan to keep getting re-elected. But imagine a country where Senators, for example, couldn't get into office by dividing Americans against each other.

But a divided people are easier to control.

Comedy Break With Craig Ferguson

With special guest Scarlet Johansson:



Ms. Johansson has surprisingly good comedic timing. With Craig Ferguson, they really keep the laughs coming.

Senate Candidate Puts Party Before Country

Chris Knight reports that Elaine Marshall, candidate for Senate from North Carolina, puts the interests of her political party before the interests of her constituency. He also makes the excellent observation that the Seventeenth Amendment is responsible for the fact that Senators are more beholden to their political party than to the actual voters. Wasn't the point of the Amendment to make Senators beholden to voters?

It's time to acknowledge that that idea failed. Senators aren't beholden to voters, but instead to special interests, with their political party being the first one in line.

Senate National ID Plan Infringes Privacy

Cato says "Don't BELIEVE it":

They’re calling it “BELIEVE,” short for “Biometric Enrollment, Locally-stored Information, and Electronic Verification of Employment.” They can call it that. We’ll study it, and give credence to what we learn.

The plan is confusing, disorganized, repetitive, and sometimes contradictory. Summarizing it is a little like trying to piece together the egg when all you have is the omelet, but three themes emerge: First, this summary backs away from an earlier claim that there would not be a biometric national identity database. There will be a national biometric database. Second, repeating the word “fraud-proof” does not make this national ID system fraud proof. Third, this national ID system definitely paves the way for uses beyond work authorization. This is the comprehensive national identity system that people across the ideological and political spectrum oppose.

I'd also like to mention this little nugget: a poll indicating that the phrase "states rights" is more popular than I thought.

It's a fact of the human condition that words have different meanings for different people. It's not entirely untrue to say that states have rights, in the sense that there are some things that the federal government cannot require states to do. But that's not the same thing as saying that states should be completely autonomous entities either.

The structure of the federal government is what's important. Elected representatives will centralize power if their House is not properly balanced by a Senate that is incentived to keep power decentralized. That's the beauty of the original Constitutional structure. That's what needs to be restored by repealing the 17th Amendment.

Anyways, go to Cato and read Jim Harper's very thorough analysis of the Senate's National ID legislation.

Nullification!

Nullification! The Lew Rockwell Show

Lew Rockwell interviews Tom Woods, on his new book, Nullification: How to Resist Federal Tyranny in the 21st Century. Thanks to the internet, Americans can learn about such forbidden ideas as the Principles of 1798, when Jefferson and Madison laid out the idea that to give the central government the sole ability to interpret the constitution was the path to tyranny, and that the states have the right and the duty to oppose tyrannical actions by the feds.

Regimists try to demonize the idea of nullification, as they attempt to demonize all ideas that undermine centralized power, but that is not scaring libertarians, Tea Party people, and other dissidents. Nullification, decentralization, self-government, self-determination, even secession: the time of these un-PC ideas is here, and the Woods book may be the handbook of the revolution.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Victims Of Communism Day

Ilya Somin has declared that May 1st is Victims of Communism Day. Over on my blog, I noted how our Constitution was originally designed to protect against communism by quoting from Federalist 10:

The influence of factious leaders may kindle a flame within their particular States, but will be unable to spread a general conflagration through the other States. A religious sect may degenerate into a political faction in a part of the Confederacy; but the variety of sects dispersed over the entire face of it must secure the national councils against any danger from that source. A rage for paper money, for an abolition of debts, for an equal division of property, or for any other improper or wicked project, will be less apt to pervade the whole body of the Union than a particular member of it; in the same proportion as such a malady is more likely to taint a particular county or district, than an entire State.

The Senate was originally designed to protect against these evils by keeping such power out of the hands of a centralized authority. We'll be seeing calls for more communism here unless the 17th Amendment is repealed.

Hat tip: Let a Thousand Nations Bloom