The Seventeenth Summary 11-30-2010 PM

Senate Passes Historic Food Safety Bill, House Up Next

NPR (blog)
Mike Enzi, (R-WY), talk to reporters on Tuesday about the food safety bill that passed the Senate. It sure took a while, but the Senate today passed the ...

Congress Lashes Out at Wikileaks, Senators Say Leakers May Have "Blood on ...
CBS News
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) called the release of more than 250000 classified State Department documents a "reckless ...

Tea Party backers, greens unite against ethanol tax credit
The Hill (blog)
... ranging from lefty green groups to a major Tea Party organization – are pushing Senate leaders to let a major ethanol tax break die at year's end. ...

Senate votes to delay Medicare physician payment cut until Dec. 31
OSN SuperSite
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced the legislation. Sens. Baucus and Grassley vowed to ...

States-rights advocates focusing on 17th Amendment

Mauro's wide-ranging review of debate swirling around the 17th Amendment notes ... "All this attention to the 17th Amendment is amusing and bewildering to ...

Senator introduces bill to extend jobless benefits

CNNMoney

The bill's sponsor, Senator Max Baucus, D-Mont., said in a statement that the proposed legislation would reauthorize benefits for nearly 800000 out-of-work ...

Blumenthal vs. Kardashians: One for the Senator Elect
Hartford Courant (blog)
The Kardashians may live in California, but the Connecticut AG and US Senator-elect attacked their participation in a debit card designed to draw in young ...

Dean: We need to sanction TV guests through the Fairness Doctrine ...
Hot Air
Regardless of whether repealing the 17th Amendment is a good idea or not, its advocates at least understand the Constitution and its amending process better ...

John McCain: Senate 'poorer' without Russ Feingold
Politico (blog)
John McCain says 'the Senate will be a much poorer place without Russ Feingold in it.'

Patty Murray finally accepts top Democratic fundraising jobSeattle Times

Patty Murray has accepted the Senate Democrats' top fundraising job for a second time, a gig she is taking on with noticeably more reluctance than when she ...

Senate: Earmark Ban Amendment Voted Down
Fox News (blog)
All except Inhoffe and Lugar are members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Five Senators missed the vote: Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Sen. ...

Retiring Sen. Chris Dodd bids adieu
CNN
Chris Dodd will reflect on the three decades he spent representing Connecticut in Congress during his final speech from the Senate floor Tuesday. ...

No, Senator Durbin, Earmarks Are Not Transparent
Cato @ Liberty
This morning the full Senate voted down a proposed rule that would have barred earmarks for the next two years. Part of the reason? Earmarks are transparent ...

Michelle Malkin » Senate passes new food police bill: Roll call ...
By Michelle Malkin
Senate passes new food police bill: Roll call vote 73-25; Senator Bennet: “It's all rigged”

Sen. Bennet: "It's All Rigged"

A hot mic left on during a Senate vote Tuesday morning on the Food Safety Act caught a senator complaining that process of setting the agenda during the lame-duck session is “rigged.”

“It’s all rigged. The whole conversation is rigged,” said Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. “The fact that we don’t get to a discussion before the break about what we’re going to do in the lame duck. It’s just rigged.”

The Era of Leftist Republican Lugar Is Over

Former Republican Sen. Warns GOP May ‘Have Gone So Far Overboard That We Are Beyond Redemption’ Think Progress

In an age when far-right tea party activists have taken over the Republican Party and demanded lockstep allegiance, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) has been one of the few GOP lawmakers to step out of line. In particular, Lugar, the ranking GOP member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blasted his own party for relentlessly blocking ratification of the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, calling on his fellow GOP senators to “do your duty for your country” and complete the pact.
Not surprisingly, this insubordination has earned Lugar significant scorn within the Republican base, which now seems to value blind obedience over principled independent decision-making. In a New York Times profile of Lugar published today, former GOP Sen. John Danforth feared that the backlash against Lugar from his own party signals that the GOP has gone “far overboard” with no hope of turning back:

“If Dick Lugar,” said John C. Danforth, a former Republican senator from Missouri, “having served five terms in the U.S. Senate and being the most respected person in the Senate and the leading authority on foreign policy, is seriously challenged by anybody in the Republican Party, we have gone so far overboard that we are beyond redemption.”
Mr. Danforth, who was first elected the same year as Mr. Lugar, added, “I’m glad Lugar’s there and I’m not.”

The Seventeenth Summary 11-29-2010 AM

START puts Richard Lugar on the spot
Politico (blog)
AP Photo Close By ABBY PHILLIP & CAROL E. LEE | 11/27/10 7:01 AM EST One was the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; the other, …

US Senate Okays Taos Pueblo water right settlement
Taosnews.com
By JR Logan Taos Pueblo Indian Water Rights Settlement Act, also knows as the Abeyta Settlement, was included in legislation approved by the US Senate, ...

Unemployment Extension Being Pushed By Casey In Lame Duck Session
US Money Talk News
The letter will be presented to Senate leadership to urge them to reauthorize Unemployment benefits when they return from Thanksgiving break to continue ...

Senate bill S-510, Codex, and the choice between corporate food ...
By thebovine
Not one word was mentioned on the Senate floor, publicly, about Codex nutrition and chemicals, Monsanto, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), factory farms food and animal problems. Not one word about the USDA already seizing, ...

Militant Libertarian » Bipartisan Senate Bill Would Let States Opt ...
By Militant Libertarian
On the Senate floor, Brown said, “States shouldn't be forced by the federal government to adopt a one-size-fits all health care plan. Each state's health care needs are different,” he said. “Our bill provides flexibility, ...

Roots of the Usurpation-1913 « drkatesview
By drkate
The 17th Amendment has changed things enormously.” Scalia added, according to news accounts, “We changed that in a burst of progressivism in 1913, and you can trace the decline of so-called states' rights throughout the rest of the 20th ...

Senator Lugar Charts His Course Against the Winds
New York Times
Senator Richard G. Lugar of Indiana at his office on Capitol Hill last week. A Tea Party group says removing him is “a must. ...

Senator Earmark Points and Figures
By Jeff Carter
Republican Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona was one of them. Last week he quietly tucked a $200 million dollar earmark in a piece of legislation during the lame duck session. His embrace of pork allowed two Democratic Senators to insert their ...

DN should rethink its 17th Amendment stance
Bowling Green Daily News
In light of how incredibly enormous our federal government has become since the 17th Amendment was adopted in 1913, maybe the Daily News should rethink its ...

UN: Discrimination Against Men Is Fine

Recently, the United States Senate held the first round of hearings on the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Despite having been adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979, the treaty has never been ratified by the Senate.


The National Organization for Women (NOW) and other supporters claim, “in agreeing to ratify CEDAW, countries agree to take concrete action to improve the status of women and girls.” NOW applauds countries such as France for improving “maternity leave and child care for women working outside the home” after having ratified the UN Women’s Treaty...


In a misguided attempt to promote equality, the UN Women’s Treaty calls for the complete elimination of sex roles, and all policies – no matter how effective – recognizing gender differences. According to feminist author Christina Hoff Sommers, if implemented in the United States, CEDAW “would be a weapon for hard-line feminists in groups like NOW to wield against the rest of us.” The Treaty’s egalitarian feminist provisions threaten both the advancement of women and “the privacy, well-being, and basic freedoms of Americans.”

The treaty is not an attempt to promote equality. It's an attempt to end discrimination against women while permitting discrimination against men.

International treaties have to be ratified by the Senate. Yet another reason to repeal the 17th Amendment!

The Seventeenth Summary 11-27-2010 AM

Anti-Bullying Rules for the Senate | RedState

By lukematthews (Profile)
There has been a hue and cry over anti-bullying legislation in schools. This legislation is supposed driven by the GiBLeT community over startling injustices .

Bipartisan Senate Bill Would Let States Opt Out of Obamacare, But ...
CNSNews.com

On the Senate floor, Brown said, “States shouldn't be forced by the federal government to adopt a one-size-fits all health care plan. ...

Restraining Leviathan: allow the states to repeal federal law ...
By Phineas
The 17th Amendment was passed after a national consensus in its favor arose and pressure was put on Congress in the form of state calls for a constitutional convention. By 1910, nearly two-thirds of the states had issued such calls and ...

Zywicki in National Law Journal: 17th Amendment Unleashed Spending ...
If the 17th Amendment to the Constitution allowing election of senators had never been adopted, the Senate and Congress would be different institutions than ...

On Power And The Constitution, Part 2
By Dirk Van Dijk
That was ended by the 17th amendment. Recently, though, the power of money to influence the political process has again increased. This has happened as the cost of running a political campaign has risen dramatically. The power of money, ...

That Dratted Seventeenth Amendment

That Dratted Seventeenth Amendment; Peter Robinson; ricochet.com

The other day, you'll recall, Scott Reusser announced that he was "torn" over repealing the Seventeenth Amendment, which weakened the role of the states in the federalist system.  Before the Amendment, the state legislatures chose U.S. senators.  The Amendment provided instead for the direct popular election of U.S. senators.  Most of us (by my rough count) came down on the side of repeal.
After reading all this, Ricochet fan and law professor Todd Zywicki dropped me a line, giving me two items--and both are so rich I thought I'd pass them right along.
For Todd's expert argument on behalf of repeal--read it, Scott Reusser, and you'll no longer feel torn--click here.
Todd's second item?  An article in the National Law Journal reporting on the nascent repeal movement.  The article lies behind a paywall, but herewith a few choice excerpts:

The long-forgotten 17th Amendment--the one that gave us direct election of senators--has suddenly moved to center stage in the new debate over constitutional first principles fostered by the Tea Party movement...
Zywicki said he was surprised at first when the Tea Party movement, with its populist orientation, embraced repeal of the 17th Amendment, which appears to be 'somewhat anti-democratic,' because it would take away popular election of senators.
But he agrees with the analysis that, if the 17th Amendment had never been adopted, the Senate--and Congress--would not be the institutions they are today. Instead of being elected the same way as House members, they would be much more strongly tied to the interests of their states. 'It's my firm belief that 'Obamacare' would not have happened,' Zywicki said, because it overrides state prerogatives in significant ways. Unfunded mandates would not have proliferated, he added. 'There has been more federal activity of all kinds, ' since the 17th Amendment came into being, Zywicki said...
[I]n the end even Zywicki, who has beat the drums for repealing the 17th Amendment for so long, thinks it's very unlikely to happen 'in my lifetime,' in part because it seems anti-democratic, and in part because the constitutional amendment process would require two thirds of the existing Senate to approve. New senators like Mike Lee [the Tea Party candidate, just elected to the U.S. Senate from Utah, who, like Todd Zywicki, opposes the 17th Amendment] offer a glimmer of hope, but even Lee in a postelection interview also said he did not envision repealing the amendment in his lifetime. Zywicki is 44, and Lee is 39.

Still.  We can dream, can't we?

The Seventeenth Summary 11-26-2010 PM

US senator applauds fed review of Tenn. ridgelines
BusinessWeek
US Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Wednesday that protecting ridgelines from mining on the Northern Cumberland Plateau could lead to more jobs from ...

Democrats Accuse GOP Senator of Breaking Pledge on Earmarks. True?
CNN Political Ticker (blog)
Washington (CNN) – Democratic Party officials are blasting out emails accusing the Senate's second ranking Republican of backtracking on his pledge not to ...

Yale Political Union: Yale Political Union debates Senator John ...
By Yale Political Union
On Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 the Yale Political Union debated "Resolved: America should lead the world in environmental policy" with Senator John Kerry . This post contains speeches made by members of the YPU. Speeches on the Affirmative:

Tea Party Now Wants 17th Amendment Repealed « Sky's Universal ...
By Schuyler Thorpe
Mike Lee, Utah's new Republican Senator, has called passing the 17th Amendment a “mistake,” and the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Senate in Colorado, Ken Buck, was for repeal before he was against it. Lee and Buck were both Tea ...

GOP Senators Detail Objections to Arms Treaty
New York Times
Mr. Corker voted for New Start when it was passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September, but now agrees with Mr. Kyl that it should not ...

Miller, Ruedrich spar over Senate ballot counting
KTUU
by Mike Ross Republican US Senate candidate Joe Miller and Alaska Republican Party Chair Randy Ruedrich engaged in a war of words Wednesday, after Ruedrich ...

Senate set to take up immigration reform bill
Washington Examiner
The proposal won its place on the agenda in part because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., promised on the campaign trail that he would take it up ...

Senate Sets Pentagon DADT Report Hearings for Dec. 2 and 3
Metro Weekly
The Senate Armed Services Committee, as had been suggested in recent days, announced that it would be holding hearings in the follow-up to the Nov. ...

Restore federalism: “The Repeal Amendment” « HillBuzz.org
By kevindujan01
Prior to the 17th Amendment, each State legislature elected two Senators to represent the State in the US Senate. These Senators acted as a counterbalance to the Representatives, which are directly elected by the People. ...

Senator: Make fertilizer used for IEDs harder to get
Sacramento Bee
By JOHN SHIFFMAN WASHINGTON -- On a recent gray Thursday afternoon, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., attended yet another Arlington Cemetery internment for a ...

Senator McCaskill Pushes Investigation into Federal Use of PR firms
By Alina Popescu
Senator Claire McCaskill announced an investigation into how federal agencies had used taxpayer money to pay for public relations services.

TIME Gets in On the 17th Repeal Attack

The Right's Weird Campaign to End Elections for Senators; TIME

As the old WWII pilots used to say, "when you are taking the most flack is when you know your over the target."  We are making headway and they are worried.

The best argument against repeal can be seen any day of the week in any state capital — just take a close look at how state legislatures work. Special interests and well-heeled lobbyists call the shots, and state legislators are notorious for not seeing the bigger picture. In 2007, when New York's legislature had to choose a new state comptroller, after the incumbent was forced to resign, they made clear they would only select a fellow legislator. The legislature's unwillingness to seriously consider an outsider suggests just how undemocratic legislative selection would likely be.

Happy Thanksgiving

Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation:

WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

NOW THEREFORE, I do recommend and assign THURSDAY, the TWENTY-SIXTH DAY of NOVEMBER next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed;-- for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish Constitutions of government for our sasety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted;-- for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge;-- and, in general, for all the great and various favours which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also, that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions;-- to enable us all, whether in publick or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us); and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.

GIVEN under my hand, at the city of New-York, the third day of October, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.

(signed) G. Washington

Senator Jon Tester of Montana Insults US Farmers

Senator Jon Tester of Montana Insults US Farmers; Steve Savage; Red, Green and Blue

Senator Tester (D, Montana) has been pushing an amendment to the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010 exempting small farms from the bill’s provisions. The wisdom of this legislation and the amendment are subjects of legitimate debate, but the Senator reveals his actual agenda in this quote:

“Small producers are not raising a commodity, but are raising food. Industrial agriculture, he said, takes the people out of the equation.”

So, is Tester saying that most of what American farmers grow is not actually food? Is he saying the people who grow it are not people? What is a “small producer?” Do 40% of Americans need to move back into full time farming for us to have “food?”

The Seventeenth Summary 11-24-2010 AM

The Tea Party's pursuit of Senator Robert Menendez
Examiner.com
It was not until the 17th Amendment that voters selected men and women like Menendez. Hence, the founders had intended for the US Constitution to dictate ...

Sonoran Alliance: Arizona Politics for Conservatives » Amendment ...
By Goldwater Institute
In fact, the amendment would move the constitutional system closer to its original design—restoring a portion of the power and representation the states had before the 17th Amendment replaced state legislative election of senators with ...

Off the Mark | The American Prospect
After all, these are the people who want to repeal the 17th Amendment -- which provides for the direct of election of senators -- because it supposedly contributes to big government by moving senators away from the direct interests of ...

Senator Burris Considering Run For Chicago Mayor | News One
By NewsOne Staff
Illinois Sen. Roland Burris is considering running for mayor of Chicago, potentially joining a crowded field of candidates.

The Seventeenth Summary 11-23-2010 PM

Joe Miller files new lawsuit in Alaska Senate race

USA Today

The outcome of the legal wrangling won't change the Senate's partisan tilt. Democrats will control 53 votes, including those of two independents, ...

Linda McMahon runs last Conn. Senate ad
NECN
(AP) — The election may be over, but defeated Republican US Senate candidate Linda McMahon is making a return appearance on Connecticut TV stations. ...

Top Senate Republican joins push to stop earmarks
Las Vegas Sun
"Old habits aren't easy to break," McConnell, the Senate minority leader, noted. But he and other earmark proponents were under pressure to acknowledge the ...

Angle keeps her future options open for 2012
Lahontan Valley News
Angle, who scored a convincing victory in the Republican primary for Senate in June, drew 44.55 percent of the vote in the general election, while Reid had ...

O'Reilly: Senate bill on FDA regulation could threaten local producers
News-Leader.com
My friends, I'd like to invite you to read and research Senate Bill S510 -- the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The bill, now hovering close to final ...

Energy and the Lame Duck
New York Times
The Senate, paralyzed by Republican opposition and indifferent Democratic leadership, could not muster the 60 votes to pass legislation to reduce carbon ...

Grassley 'can work with' new ag chair
DesMoinesRegister.com (blog)
Charles Grassley says the next chairman of the Senate agriculture committee, Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow, is “a person that I can work with. ...

Anti-piracy bill stalls in Senate amid controversy

The MIT Tech

While COICA has now passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the EFF still holds objections. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, also opposes the ...

Wonk Room » Senate Extends TANF, But Fails To Renew Popular, Job ...
By Pat Garofalo
For months, Republicans in the Senate have blocked an extension of the currently expired Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Contingency Fund, a successful jobs program that has created more than 250000 subsidized ...

The 12 most vulnerable Senate incumbents of 2012
By Richard Dunham, Bureau Chief

Just like this year, when Hatch's Senate partner, Bob Bennett, was denied renomination by Tea Party-backed Mike Lee. Hatch, like Bennett, is a longtime incumbent who — horror of horrors — has a long track record of working with ...

Secretary Napolitano and Senator Lautenberg Announce Fear Monger Campaign

Secretary Napolitano and Senator Lautenberg Announce Expansion of the "If You See Something, Say Something" Campaign Across New Jersey; DHS Press Release

"Das" Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and Senator Frank Lautenberg today joined New Jersey State Police Deputy Superintendent of "Das" Homeland Security Lt. Col. Jerome Hatfield to announce the state-wide expansion of DHS' national "If You See Something, Say Something" campaign across New Jersey - raising public awareness and strengthening security throughout the state as the busy holiday season commences.

The Seventeenth Summary 11-23-2010 AM

Conservatives Defend "Repeal Amendment" | theConstitutional.org
By admin
This proposal mirrors recent arguments by conservatives who want to repeal the 17th Amendment, which allows for the direct election of Senators (by voters rather than state legislatures). In fact, Barnett and Howell describe the impact ...

First They Came For the 17th Amendment? - SBM Blog
By SBM Blog
Some of you may have missed the abuse the 17th amendment is beginning to take from conservative quarters, where the amendment is being accused of ushering in the death of states' rights. Tony Mauro at National Law Journal traces the ...

US Senator thanks Canada for staying in Afghanistan
Toronto Sun
Lieberman, a Democrat Connecticut senator since 1988, praised Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision as a principled one, "not made as the result of a ...

GOP senator cites new intel, won't back New START

Washington Times

By Eli Lake

A second leading Republican is opposing Senate ratification of the New START treaty based on classified intelligence that the arms pact cannot ...

Senator wants to bring back first time homebuyer tax credit

NBC2 News

By Alex Boyer

FORT MYERS: US Senator Bill Nelson made a major announcement about a plan to jump start the nation's economy. ...

Utah Senator-Elect Mike Lee Won't Vote For Any Bill Not Consistent ...
By Alan
Speaking to the Federalist Society, Utah's Senator-Elect Mike Lee vows he will stick to the original text and intent of the Constitution when casting votes. “I will not vote for a single piece of legislation that I can't reconcile with ...

Setback for recall movement may be temporary

Opinion: Setback for recall movement may be temporary; Joshua Spivak; New Jersey.com

SUPPORTERS of the quick hook for federally elected officials were dealt a severe blow last week as the state Supreme Court ruled that Sen. Bob Menendez, as well as all other federal officials, are not subject to a recall vote.


The decision, overturning a lower court ruling allowing the recall to go forward, agrees with other court rulings that the recall cannot be utilized at the federal level. But recall proponents are not done yet. And there could be a chance, though most likely very small, that they could survive to fight another day.

The Seventeenth Summary 11-22-2010 PM

Counterpoint: Senate Bill 3804
New York Post
The Senate Judiciary committee (on which such Senate celebrities as Al Franken, Russ Feingold, Orrin Hatch, Diane Feinstein and Arlen Specter sit -19 ...

Obamacare Repeal's Real Aim Is Retiring Obama: Albert Hunt
Bloomberg
While Republicans have a big majority in the House, Democratic control of the Senate and the presidential veto power make repeal or major change impossible. ...

US Senate confirms Lew at OMB
Jerusalem Post
By JTA WASHINGTON – The US Senate has confirmed Jack Lew, an Orthodox Jew, to the cabinet level position of the director of the Office of Management and ...

GOP Senator Slams 'Unconstitutional' Health Care Policy He Once Supported
Capitol Hill Blue
By Huffington Post Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) asserted that a mandate requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance violates the US Constitution ...

Senator Rockefeller to TSA Chief John Pistole: “I Think You're ...
LewRockwell.com

Senator Rockefeller had nothing but praise for Pistole and the new screening procedures. Apparently Rockefeller thinks that TSA officials feeling up the genitals of U.S. air travelers with the fronts of their hands is a wonderful thing. ...

Alaska Senate Battle Continues as Joe Miller Gets Respite from Federal Judge
ABC News (blog)
The Sarah Palin-backed candidate has the support of Senate heavyweights like Jim DeMint, RS.C., who through the Senate Conservatives Fund, ...

Senate Approves Settlement For Black Farmers
WFAE.org
Late Friday afternoon, the US Senate approved funding to compensate tens of thousands of black farmers in the South who were discriminated against by the US ...

David Nolan, Libertarian candidate for US Senate, passes on at 66
Tucson Citizen
Now US Senate candidate David Nolan has passed on. Nolan was also the founder of the Libertarian party nationwide, and lived here in Tucson, where he also ...

Snowe, Collins back lawsuit challenging health-care law
Washington Post (blog)
The brief was initiated by US Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and boasts the signatures of 30 Senate Republicans. ...

ThinkProgress’ Yglesias Uncanny Take on Repealing the 17th

Institutions Matter; Yglesias; ThinkProgress.com

Imagine how different United States Senate debates over federal fiscal aid to state and local government would look if several Republican Senators were also state governors. Instead of Governor Christie turning down federal funding for a commuter rail tunnel because he was worried about potential overruns’ impact on the state budget, Senator/Governor Christie might have struck a deal for the feds to finance the project more generously. And of course there’s no filibustering in the New Jersey State Senate. State government is also just different from federal government. Every Democratic governor who’s presided over a recession ever has ended up cutting state spending, whereas every Republican President since Herbert Hoover has ended up increasing federal spending.

Read the whole article here.

Why Voting For COICA Is A Vote For Censorship

Why Voting For COICA Is A Vote For Censorship; Techdirt.com

Last week, we listed out the 19 Senators who "voted for censorship." These were the 19 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who voted in favor of COICA (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act). That story got an awful lot of attention, and was widely linked from many different places. While we had linked to all of the details in the post, we had assumed that most of our regular readers we already familiar with COICA and why it's a bill about censorship. Of course, we hadn't been expecting quite so much traffic from those who were not as familiar with the bill or the debate, which resulted in a few complaints in the comments that the bill "has nothing to do with censorship, but is about stopping copyright infringement."

The Seventeenth Summary 11-22-2010 AM

John Cornyn Declares He Will Continue The War Against Conservative ...
By Erick Erickson
Republicans believe this 17th amendment reality requires them to keep on bringing home the pork barrel projects. That worked for the 20th century. But now Democrats have different plans. They have been taken over by Socialists. ...

Food Safety Bill In Doubt As Republican Senator Demands Vote on Earmarks Ban First

EIN News (press release)

EINNEWS, November 19---A major, totally unrelated roadblock is keeping the US Senate from voting on a food safety bill that seems certain to pass if it ever ...

The Caucus: Senator Seeks Influence at the Center
New York Times (blog)
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

For years, Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia nurtured a wonky, centrist brand as a businessman-turned-politician whose great ...

Senator John Kyl must stop playing politics with national security
Towanda Daily Review
Throughout the last century, the two major parties have fought fiercely over domestic policy while most often cooperating on international matters in order ...

Senator John Ensign may support DADT repeal
Washington Post (blog)
By Greg Sargent

In a letter to constituents who have inquired about his position on DADT, GOP Senator John Ensign strongly suggests he is leaning towards ...

Oregon Senator Kills Web Censorship Bill!

By Jared Moya

If ever there were a modern day hero it may just be Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, who has vowed to block the controversial Combating Online Infringement & Counterfeits Act as it is currently written. ...

Senator Roland Burris Bids Farewell To Near Empty Senate
ChicagoNow (blog)
US Senator Roland Burris (D-Ill) bid farewell to a near empty Senate on Thursday after a little over 22 months in office. I suppose it wasn't much of a ...

Senate Bill 510 vote delayed until after Thanksgiving - Take action now to ...
Natural News.com
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger (NaturalNews)
If there's one thing to give thanks for this year, it's the fact that the Senate floor vote on the so-called ...

Napolitano & TX Gov. Perry on Federalism

They cover a lot of ground, from border security to TSA security.

The Seventeenth Summary 11-19-2010 PM

Senate to Vote on Banning Earmarks
New York Times (blog)
By DAVID HERSZENHORN The full Senate will vote on a proposed ban on lawmaker-directed spending items known as earmarks, as an amendment to a food safety...

Senate Fails to Vote on Food-Safety Bill
Wall Street Journal
By BILL TOMSON WASHINGTON—The Senate failed to vote as planned Thursday on passage of a bill to overhaul the nation's food-safety system and grant new...

Stabenow to chair Senate Agriculture Committee
Detroit Free Press
By TODD SPANGLER WASHINGTON – Michigan's Debbie Stabenow is the new chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee and will take the lead in writing the...

Web Censorship Bill Sails Through Senate Committee
Wired News (blog)
COICA must still be approved by the full House and Senate before becoming law. A vote is unlikely before the new year. Among the sites that could go dark if ...

Joe Miller Asks Federal Judge to Stop Alaska Senate Election CertificationCBS News

Lisa Murkowski declared herself the victor in the Alaska Senate race on Wednesday, but her Republican challenger Joe Miller took action on Thursday to stop ...

Paycheck Fairness Act Fails in Senate
Reuters
After the Paycheck Fairness Act, designed to put an end to wage discrimination, failed in the Senate, President Obama expressed disappointment, …

The Seventeenth Summary 11-19-2010 AM

The Volokh Conspiracy » Recall of U.S. Senators Is ...
By Eugene Volokh
The relevant constitutional provision is the Seventeenth Amendment, though the issue would have been similar under the pre-Seventeenth-Amendment constitutional provisions, which provided that senators would be elected by state ...

Senator Reid to seek START ratification this year
Reuters
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) listens to a question from a reporter during a news conference in Las Vegas, Nevada November 3, 2010. ...

The Oppositional Defense of Republican Senator Leader McConnell for a Ban on ...
Coffetoday
Congress got back on Monday to a new political scandal, with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell admitting to a highlight ...

Senator Dodd undone – tweeted and deleted
Reuters Blogs (blog)
“U love torturing me w this shit” was tweeted on Senator Christopher Dodd's Twitter account @SenChrisDodd. Then came the tweet ”From Dodd Staff – Apologies ...

Bob Edgar: Whose Side Is Your Senator on?
By Bob Edgar
Whose side is our Senate on? Hedge fund billionaires, oil executives and health insurance honchos looking to secretly buy our elections; or the American people who have a right to know who's behind the spending?

Senator Jay Rockefeller Wishes FCC Would Shut Down Fox News
Fox News
A powerful Democratic senator, pointing the finger at cable news for a politically toxic climate in Washington, unleashed a stunning tirade in which he ...

Controlling Leviathan: The Battle for Limited Government

HT: Wall Street Stocks



Comment: Nothing is going to change until the states have their rightful place with-in the Federal Government, and the way to get there is through the repeal of the 17th Amendment.

To Restore Founders’ Intent PAC

To Restore Founders’ Intent PAC
A Non-Connected, Non-Partisan, Single Issue Political Action Committee

I'm often asked if there is a group organized and dedicated to repeal the 17th Amendment. The "Restore Founder's Intent PAC" has recently been formed and looking for assistance and donations. Please consider the information on their site and the amount of help you can offer.

We support candidates and incumbents, State and Federal, regardless of political party, who will pledge to support and vote for Repeal of the 17th Amendment.

The Seventeenth Summary 11-18-2010 PM

Repeal Obamacare – then the 17th Amendment
WND
The explosion of progressive thinking unleashed by Woodrow Wilson and his cronies produced the Federal Reserve, the income tax and the 17th Amendment, ...

Obama pushes Senate to approve START treaty now, not later
Los Angeles Times
He said it was a "gamble" to put off a Senate vote, as some Republicans have asked for, calling the treaty a "cornerstone of our relationship with Russia. ...

Senate Lurches Ahead On Food Safety Bill, But Hurdles Remain
NPR (blog)
by April Fulton More than a year after the House passed a bill to strengthen food safety, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to move ahead with its ...

Burris Bids Farewell to Senate, Denounces 'Unacceptable' Lack of Diversity
ABC News (blog)
Illinois Democrat Roland Burris today bid farewell to the Senate, leaving the upper chamber of Congress without any African-American lawmakers for the next ...

Senate panel approves domain name seizure bill
CNET
"We congratulate Chairman Leahy and Senator Hatch for their leadership on this bill and to the Senate Judiciary Committee for its action today. ...

Senate Judiciary Backs Online Piracy Bill
National Journal
By Juliana Gruenwald The Senate Judiciary Committee approved legislation Thursday aimed at cracking down on online piracy and counterfeiting with a ...

Congress: Reid, Boehner meet
msnbc.com
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker-designate John Boehner met privately Wednesday for the first time as equals, as the Nevada Democrat and the ...

US Senate chief Reid seeks repeal of gay military ban
AFP
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he intends to bring the ban on gays openly serving in the military to a vote during the current lame ...

Michelle Malkin » DREAM Act scorecard: The GOP Senate fence-sitters
By Michelle Malkin
I've polled Republican Senate offices and you should know that many open-borders squishes remain on the fence about this Obama/Reid down payment on blanket illegal alien amnesty. That's right. The following GOP Senators haven't made up ...

S.3728 - Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act

S.3728 - Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act; Senator Charles Schumer D-NY

8/5/2010--Introduced.Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prevention Act - Extends copyright protection to fashion designs. Includes as protected items clothing, handbags, duffel bags, tote bags, belts, and eyeglass frames. Excludes from such protection designs embodied in a useful article made public by the designer more than three years before the date upon which protection of the design is asserted. Prohibits considering certain factors in determining the protection of a fashion design. Sets the term of protection at 3 years for a fashion design and 10 years for a design of a vessel hull. Declares that it is not infringement to make, have made, import, sell, offer for sale, advertise, or distribute any article embodying a design which was created without knowledge, either actual or reasonably inferred from the totality of the circumstances, that a design was protected and was copied from such protected design. Prohibits deeming a vessel hull design to have been copied from a protected design if it is original and not substantially similar in appearance to a protected design. Prohibits deeming a fashion design to have been copied from a protected design if it:

S.3804 - Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act

S.3804 - Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act; Senator Patrick Leahy D-VT

9/20/2010--Introduced.Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act - Amends the federal criminal code to authorize the Attorney General (AG) to commence an action for injunctive relief against a domain name used by an Internet site that is "dedicated to infringing activities," even where such a domain name is not located in the United States. Defines an Internet site that "dedicated to infringing activities" as a site that is:
(1) subject to civil forfeiture;
(2) designed primarily to offer goods or services in violation of federal copyright law; or
(3) selling counterfeit goods. Requires the AG to maintain a public listing of domain names that the Department of Justice (DOJ) determines are dedicated to infringing activities but for which the AG has not filed an action. Allows parties to petition the AG to remove such a domain name from the list and obtain judicial review of the final determination in a civil action.

Ron Paul Introduces HR 6416: The American Traveler Dignity Act

HT: Daily Paul

This speech given by Rep. Ron Paul is too important not post.



Comment: Nobody is above the law!

New Senate Leadership, a Lot Like the Old

New Senate Leadership, a Lot Like the Old; The Caucus; The New York Times

New Congress! Same leaders. More or less, anyway.


The Senate elected its leadership slate for the 112th Congress on Tuesday morning, and it is remarkably like the old one, with a few tweaks and treats.

The Seventeenth Summary 11-18-2010 AM

First Thoughts: Small ball

msnbc.com
One of the affirming justices A. Scalia is back in the news in support of repealing the 17th Amendment. The provision of the Constitution that empowers ...

The American Spectator : Strengthening Federalism
By James M. Thunder
Secondly, Peppermint Tea is correct, it would be much easier and correct to repeal the 17th Amendment, rather than establish all those advisory committees. Essentially our movement from a dual federalism governing principle to a more ...

David Gans: Antonin Scalia -- The Tea Party's Court Justice
By David Gans
I think a repeal of the 17th amendment would be a good idea, and a strong start to returning to the government we are supposed to have. You see, the original idea was that congress represents the people, and the senate represents the ...

Murkowski becomes first write-in senator since 1954
Jerusalem Post
By AP Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Wednesday became the first US Senate candidate in more than 50 years to win a so-called write-in campaign, ...

US senator: Republicans will block tax compromise
Reuters Africa
"Are you kidding, of course we would," said Senator Orrin Hatch, who sits on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee and is expected to be the panel's top ...

Senator Mitch McConnell Nearly Embalmed

Spooftimes.com (satire)

I'm the United States Senator from Kentucky!" Things were eventually straightened out and and Senator McConnell's limousine was summoned to take him back to ...

Nebraska Senator questions head of Transportation Security Administration on ...
KTIV
But, during questioning by Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns, Pistole made no apologies and said that the government must provide the best security for all ...

Now K Street has its own senator: Lisa Murkowski | Washington Examiner
By Timothy P. Carney
Barton: No waiver, let's clarify the rules for chairmen term-limits; By any measure, Democrats raised more from PACs in 2010; GE's Green Week conflicts of interest continue; Now K Street has its own senator: Lisa Murkowski ...

Sen. Rockefeller: FCC Should Take FOX News, MSNBC Off Airwaves

Sen. Rockefeller: FCC Should Take FOX News, MSNBC Off Airwaves; RealClearPolitics

HT: DrudgeReport

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D-WV): "There's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the FCC to say to FOX and to MSNBC: 'Out. Off. End. Goodbye.' It would be a big favor to political discourse; our ability to do our work here in Congress, and to the American people, to be able to talk with each other and have some faith in their government and more importantly, in their future."

See the video here.

Lieberman: Police State Whole-Body Scans are the 'Right Thing'

Senator: TSA's whole-body scans are 'right thing;' CNET

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, today applauded the Obama administration's new airport screening procedures and suggested that critics don't understand what they're talking about.

Transportation Security Administration Oversight Hearing 17 Nov 2010

Transportation Security Administration Oversight Hearing; Democratic Party Press Office

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announces the following full committee hearing on Transportation Security Administration oversight.

Comment: I'm sure Bliderburg members Senators John D. Rockefeller IV and Kay Baily Hutchison will get to the bottom of these attacks committed upon the Amerikan people and their personal and civil rights by the "blue shirts" at the TSA tomorrow. I am surprised though that fellow members of the Bilderburg Group and the overlords of "Das" Homeland Security, Senators Joesph Lieberman and Susan Collins, haven't called for a similar hearing. But I'm sure they felt Big Sis has everything in order after her very convincing and reassuring piece she recently penned to the paroles of Amerka, which ran in USAToday.

Comment 2: Here's an idea for Jim DeMint, fiscal conservative champion; how about cutting the worthless TSA and DHS from the national government, and then while you're at it, cut FEMA. That's real fiscal conservatism and libertarianism all rolled up in one sweet win for the American people. What do you say Jim?

Scalia Declares He is Against the 17th Amendment

Scalia Declares He is Against the 17th Amendment (a 17ther), a Regular Tea Party Justice on the Supreme Court; Buzzflash.com

So in the debate with Breyer, it was interesting and a bit startling to discover that Scalia is a 17ther. He opposes the 17th Amendment that allows for the popular election of senators. Why? Let's let Scalia "explain":

"There's very little that I would change," he said [of the Constitution]. "I would change it back to what they wrote, in some respects. The 17th Amendment has changed things enormously."
That amendment allowed for US senators to be elected by the people, rather than by individual state legislatures.
"We changed that in a burst of progressivism in 1913, and you can trace the decline of so-called states' rights throughout the rest of the 20th century. So, don't mess with the Constitution," said Scalia.

Read the rest here.

Senate Bill S 510 Food Safety Modernization Act vote imminent

Senate Bill S 510 Food Safety Modernization Act vote imminent: Would outlaw gardening and saving seeds; Natural News

Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, has been called "the most dangerous bill in the history of the United States of America." It would grant the U.S. government new authority over the public's right to grow, trade and transport any foods. This would give Big brother the power to regulate the tomato plants in your backyard. It would grant them the power to arrest and imprison people selling cucumbers at farmer's markets. It would criminalize the transporting of organic produce if you don't comply with the authoritarian rules of the federal government.

Senate Republican Leader Agrees to Ban Earmarks

Senate Republican Leader Agrees to Ban Earmarks; FOXnews

Bowing to the will of a majority of his caucus, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced Monday that he would support a ban on earmarks that have come to be known as "a symbol of the waste and the out-of-control spending" in Washington.

Manchin Takes U.S. Senate Oath

Manchin Takes U.S. Senate Oath; Tomblin Becomes Acting Governor

[F]ormer Governor Joe Manchin took the oath of office as a U.S. senator during the Senate's 4 p.m. session. He took the oath of office around 4:06 p.m. The ceremony took place in the U.S. Senate Chamber.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and former Sen. Carte Goodwin, D-W.Va., were by Manchin's while he took the oath of office.

Manchin is scheduled next to take the oath again during a ceremonial swearing in the Old Senate Chamber at the U.S. Capitol.

Read the whole article here.

Will Congress Vote on DREAM Act for Illegal Immigrants in 2010?

Will Congress Vote on DREAM Act for Illegal Immigrants in 2010? ABCNews

They came through for him during a tight reelection campaign in Nevada. Now Hispanic voters are looking to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to return the favor.

Reid has promised a Senate vote this year on a small piece of immigration legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would give hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants a conditional path to legal residency.

Read the rest here.

Open Letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham

Open Letter to Sen. Lindsey Graham; Hayek Cafe

From Professor Don Boudreaux:

Earmarks Pale in Comparison to the Real Problem; Paul Pushes Earmark Ban

Senator-Elect Rand Paul Pushes Earmark Ban; FOXNews

Banning earmarks may be a way for Dr. Paul to create a buzz about spending, but earmarks pale in comparison to the real problem.

He hasn't even started his first day in the Senate yet, and already, Senator-elect Rand Paul (R- Ky.) is endorsing a plan that could shake up Washington. Paul is one of a group of Senators trying to ban earmarks.

Calling himself 'a Tea Partier,' David Williams pushes repeal of 17th Amendment

Calling himself 'a Tea Partier,' David Williams pushes repeal of 17th Amendment; Kentucky.com

Kentucky Senate President David Williams declared himself "a Tea Partier" on Wednesday and called for repeal of a constitutional amendment that took the power to appoint U.S. senators away from state legislatures and gave it to voters.

Williams' comments came during a presentation to the University of Kentucky Law School Federalist Society. They drew strong reaction from Williams' rival in next spring's Republican primary election for governor and from Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning, Kentucky's two U.S. senators.

Read the rest here.

Snowe Party Switch? Dems Reportedly Pursuing Prospect

Olympia Snowe Party Switch? Dems Reportedly Pursuing Prospect: Huffington Post

Democrats are mounting a new effort to chart a path for Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) to switch parties, the National Journal reports Wednesday.

Sen. Snowe appears a smart target for Democrats. A moderate Republican who occasionally sides with Democrats, Snowe faces an increasingly difficult road to reelection in 2012, especially with the rising conservative tide that is now lapping at the shores of -- or perhaps flooding -- the Pine Tree State.

In a state with two moderate Republican senators and two Democratic U.S. representatives, the Republican wave last week provided passage for Tea Party-backed gubernatorial candidate Paul LePage, a boisterous and controversial small-town mayor, to become Maine's next Governor (with the campaign help of Snowe, no less). Maine Republicans also made huge gains in the state House and Senate, taking majority control of both.

Read the rest here.

This Is Not Capitalism, It's Global Fascism

US senator expects progress on S.Korea trade pact; AFP

A top ally of President Barack Obama predicted Thursday that Congress will support a free trade deal with South Korea, but opponents hoped the failure to meet a key deadline would lead to a rethink.


Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said they needed more time to negotiate the sweeping pact, despite intense talks aiming to finalize it before the Group of 20 summit in Seoul.


With Obama pledging to work "tirelessly" to complete the agreement, Senator John Kerry voiced confidence that the pact will enjoy support in the next Congress, in which the rival Republican Party will hold more seats.