Obama Picks Krueger as Economic Council Chairman

Obama Picks Krueger as Economic Council Chairman; The New American

President Obama has nominated Princeton University’s Alan Krueger (left) for Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), and if approved by the Senate, Krueger, a labor economist and the Treasury Department’s former chief economist, will replace Austan Goolsbee. "I am very pleased to appoint Alan and I look forward to working with him," Obama stated, shifting his eyes between two flat-screen teleprompters during a statement on Monday. "I have nothing but confidence in Alan as he takes on this important role as one of the leaders of my economic team."


Supporters of the President’s appointment regard Kreuger as one of the nation’s leading labor economists, an "expert" who has studied every facet of the economic landscape, with unparalleled expertise in the fields of education, unemployment, and the minimum wage. "With 25 million people unemployed, it’s fitting and appropriate that one of the country’s preeminent labor economists heads the CEA," asserted Robert Reich, a Labor Secretary in the Clinton administration.


Conservative congressional Republicans will likely protest the nomination, as Kreuger’s record suggests a government-intensive approach to economic recovery — an approach they believe will inevitably lead to another fiscal stimulus. But liberal economists such as Reich praise the President’s appointment, while emphasizing that swift government action must trump political stature and appeasement. "This is the worst labor market since the Great Depression. It’s time for bold action, and the president needs to know what must be done regardless of political feasibility," Reich advised. ...


Read the rest here.

Comment: It's highly likely he'll sail right through the Senate confrimation hearings and we'll continue to live in this Kenysian depression era. I gotta bang the drum...if the states had a place at the table would this guy be confirmed?

The Count Down to the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

The count down to the 10th anniversary of 9/11 begins and the very leeches that allowed this attack to happen, and who were never jailed for their negligence, will use this day to inflate their narcissistic egos, and we are still left in the dark by the negligent narcissists who have failed to provide any real answers as to how these supposed cave dwellers pulled off one of the single best intelligence operation in history.

Graham Meddling in Uzbekistan and Foreign Policy

Uzbekistan: US Senator Meets with President Karimov; Eurasianet.org

US Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina was received by President Islam Karimov at his residence in Tashkent on August 27, Uzbek state media reported. Ambassador George Krol, the new US envoy to Tashkent, also attended the meeting. Uzbek TV quoted Karimov as saying Uzbekistan “highly values relations” with the US and has seen “great positive things in our relations, especially most recently.“ According to the typically filtered government reports, the American senator was said to discuss resolution of the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan and ways to stabilize the region.

Comment: I'm not sure if the average American ever ask themselves why these congressmen are always going overseas and getting involved in foreign policy when we have have a department created to meet with foreign governments. Rest assured, and most of the time, it is to further US hegemony throughout the world.

In the case of Uzbekistan, Graham sits on the Appropriation Committee that will continue to funnel our tax dollar to Uzbekistan so we can continue to wage the endless war in Afghanistan, and so he's over there to make sure the Uzbekistan government doesn't do anything to cause Americans to look away from the pop media they are fixated on to learn we are propping up another dictator.

Let's the discuss the lesson we need to learn: allowing oligarchs to control our government will only continue American jingoism, so by repealing the 17th Amendment we can restore the balance of power the founders created there by returning the states place at the federal table. Then the Federal Government will be restored and the states will finally stop or at the very least curb the jingoism perpetuated by the corporatist oligarchs both inside and outside of our government.

Economic Freedom & Quality of Life

The video explains what economic freedom is and why it's key to improving society, so we need to be aware that we are moving down the scale, not up. Why? The expansion of government. What is fueling this expansion; both the House and Senate are taxing us to death and providing the revenues to special interest and in the process expanding our government beyond the constitutional scope. If we are going to turn our direction around then we need to restore the states place at the table and that means repealing the 17th Amendment.

Ron Paul 2012 *New Version

Sanders: Strengthen Social Security by taxing large incomes

Sanders: Strengthen Social Security by taxing large incomes; The Raw Story

AA forthcoming bill to be proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), the only Democratic Socialist in the U.S. Senate, would make incomes above $250,000-a-year subject to the payroll tax, a move he says will make the nation's most beloved social safety net program, Social Security, significantly stronger.


The current payroll tax, which is Social Security's sole source of funding, only applies to incomes up to $106,800-a-year. Sanders' bill would not tax incomes between that amount and $250,000-a-year.


"Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress and too many Democrats, have been discussing harmful cuts to Social Security as part of an overall scheme to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the children, and working families," Sanders wrote in an essay published Thursday. "That is wrong, it is unconscionable, and it must not happen!"


He added that the program, which the Congressional Budget Office says is fiscally sound through 2038, has been dramatically successful in reducing the rates of senior citizens in poverty, but drastic cuts could change that.


"Right now, an American who makes $106,800 a year pays the same amount of money into the Social Security system as a millionaire or a billionaire," he wrote. "That is because today, all income above $106,800 is exempt from the Social Security payroll tax. As a result, 94% of Americans pay Social Security tax on all of their income, but the wealthiest 6% do not. That is wrong and that has got to change."


Sanders said his bill would ensure Social Security remains solvent for the next 75 years.


Read the rest here.

Comment: At least with a Ponzi scheme you find out eventually when you've been duped; but with social security and the government class controlling it, you never do...pay slaves!

Militarism is a Horrendous Waste

Editorial, Aug. 25, 2011: Militarism is a horrendous waste: The Charleston Gazette (WV)

HT: The Future for Freedom Foundation

CHARLESTON, W.Va. --America is the most militaristic nation on Earth, spending $1 trillion of taxpayer money yearly for warmaking -- outstripping all other nations combined. Why? What's the point of trying to police the entire planet, when other democracies don't feel this compulsion? Especially when the policing doesn't really work?


Col. Andrew Bacevich knows war well. He graduated from West Point, fought in Vietnam, then earned a Ph.D. and became a professor at Boston University. His son was killed in action in Iraq in 2007.


Dr. Bacevich now scorns America's role as the sole remaining military superpower. He expressed his contempt in a book, The New American Militarism: How Americans are Seduced by War. He said Americans love military swagger, such as former President Bush playing "Top Gun" as he landed in uniform on an aircraft carrier before a "Mission Accomplished" banner.


"Today, as never before in their history, Americans are enthralled with military power," he wrote. If the U.S. "militaristic cast of mind" continues, he said, "America will surely share the fate of all those who in ages past have looked to war and military power to fulfill their destiny. We will rob future generations of their rightful inheritance. We will wreak havoc abroad. We will endanger our security at home. We will risk the forfeiture of all that we prize."


Last week, writing in the Los Angeles Times, Dr. Bacevich said a "new world order" is rising, with various nations booming economically while America pours hundreds of billions into militarism -- burdened by "too many obligations piled high without the wherewithal to meet them."


He said Washington indulges "the fiction of American omnipotence -- persisting in our penchant for fighting distant wars of dubious purpose." He added that "spending hundreds of billions vainly attempting to pacify Afghanistan is unlikely to help much."


He wrote that "Washington has become an intellectual dead zone" where "shoveling money into the maw of the military-industrial complex seems the top Republican priority."


Washington is convulsing over the colossal national debt. But that debt easily could be curbed if militarism were reduced. The "official" Pentagon budget was $680 billion last year, but the total soars to $1 trillion when veteran care is added, plus interest on past military spending done with borrowed money, plus other off-budget outlays.


America is bankrupting itself to remain an armed superpower. Other nations don't do it. Why does America damage itself in this manner?

Comment: While I agree wholeheartedly with the commentary, the plain and simple truth is that without the checks and balances the states provided through the US Senate prior to 1913, we will have to continue to watch in horror as the oligarchs in our government continue to use our military to reshape the world in their corporatist image and for their gain. This is why it is so important for us to repeal the 17th Amendment.

Biden issues clarification on China’s ‘one child’ policy comments

"The Vice President's office on Tuesday sought to clarify comments Joe Biden made this week that appeared to condone China's restrictive birth policy."

Ron Paul on his Faith

I look at Ron Paul and Matt 6;6 comes to mind; I see the rest of the Republicans and Matt 6; 2-5 comes to mind.

Following in the Footsteps of Hitler

NATO is following in the footsteps of Hitler crushing sovereignty and reshaping the world in the corporatist worldview.

Biden "Not Second-guessing" China's One-child Policy

Biden "Not Second-guessing" China's One-child Policy; The New American

For decades, the most common argument for legalized abortion has been that a pregnant woman should be able to choose whether or not to bring a child to term. But in China, there is no choice, as authorities in the People's Republic mandate abortions and sterilizations for couples that already have one child. And Vice President Joe Biden, who is personally "pro-choice," wants the Chinese to know he understands and is "not second-guessing" their one child per family policy.


Speaking at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, yesterday, Biden was discussing America's debt problems when he made the following remarks, as published on the White House and U.S. Embassy websites:

What we ended up doing is setting up a system whereby we did cut by $1.2 trillion upfront, the deficit over the next 10 years. And we set up a group of senators that have to come up with another $1.2 to $1.7 trillion in savings or automatically there will be cuts that go into effect in January to get those savings. So the savings will be accomplished. But as I was talking to some of your leaders, you share a similar concern here in China. You have no safety net. Your policy has been one which I fully understand — I'm not second-guessing — of one child per family. The result being that you're in a position where one wage earner will be taking care of four retired people. Not sustainable.


So hopefully we can act in a way on a problem that's much less severe than yours, and maybe we can learn together from how we can do that.

Comment: I'm not going to attack Biden's political affiliation because doing so only tells half the problem. The problem is that the self imposed government class looks at us as chafe, having no productive use. Until we wake up to their corrupt ways and return to a limited form of government America is headed on the same course as China. Make no mistake about this all of you Muslim haters, the aim of the government elites is purge the world of all religion, the Muslim is only the tool used to keep us apart and at one another throats. The real enemy is the secular government class. Get beyond the left verses right, Muslim verses Christian or Jew paradigm, it's about our freedom and folks like Biden aim to destroy it.

So How Do We Pay for a Libya Rebuild McCain?

A top US senator applauds uprisings in Arab world; AP

McCain told CBS televison's "The Early Show" on Tuesday that while the U.S. should play a role in helping Libya in a post-Gadhafi transition, European nations should take the lead. He says, "I think we ought to really be turning our attention to national reconciliation, to not having revenge killings going on."

Comment: I guess we can print more money...

Ron Paul at the Concord Monitor

Ron Paul at the Concord Monitor from Concord Monitor on Vimeo.

Senate Set to REALLY Screw Military

Senator Udall: We Need To Keep Our Promises To Military Members; KKTV.com

Udall says the goal of this proposed plan is to continue providing benefits to military members, but to do it in a way the country can afford. He believes it’s possible, without affecting the military’s retention and recruitment rates. "I have no doubt that we can continue as a country to recruit and retain patriotic Americans to serve in our armed forces, even if we have changed the benefits packages slightly. And that's what we are talking about is changing those benefit packages so they are sustainable over time,” he said.


The plan being considered by the Pentagon would reportedly save $250 billion over the next two decades. It would affect 1.4 million service members.


The proposal comes from an influential panel of military advisers called the Defense Business Board. Their plan would eliminated the familiar system under which anyone who serves 20 years is eligible for retirement at half their salary. Instead, they would get a 401(k) style plan with government contributions. They would have to wait until normal retirement age to collect.


Some people are outraged by the plan. Advocates say the new system would not only save money, but would also be more fair. It would give benefits to those who serve less than 20 years. Right now they walk away with nothing.

Comment: We'd be able to pay our military members in a "sustainable" manner if we weren't fighting five wars and being the policemen of the world. But the writing is on the wall and every Vet knows this, the time comes when Congress screws the service members and that time is now sadly.

Gay GOP to Honor Senator Susan Collins

Gay GOP to Honor Senator Susan Collins

Senator Worth $50 Million: We Got to Eliminate the Rich

HT: Michelle Malkin

Oh the stupidity of Lautenburg...



Sad too is the question posed by the knucklehead that wants to improve the quality of Jersey beaches through the confiscation of private property in drug seizes. One of the most grievous things this country ever did in the absurd war on drugs was to confiscate private property; the unintended consequences have been enormous and this schmuck's question proves it.

PC Crowd Attacks Coburn

Sen. Coburn's off hand comment comes under attack by the PC crowd in typical fashion.

Obama calls on Syria’s Assad to “step aside”

Obama calls on Syria’s Assad to “step aside;” yahoo.com

Wake up folks, they are laying down the ground work for another war. Without the states represented in the Federal Government we will continue to be controlled by the corporatist through the US Senate. Repeal the 17th Amendment today.

Senator Blasts ATF’s Reported Promotion of Supervisors in Ill-Fated Gun Operation

Senator Blasts ATF’s Reported Promotion of Supervisors in Ill-Fated Gun Operation

A top Republican senator slammed the Justice Department for reportedly promoting the supervisors of the failed anti-gunrunning sting operation Fast and Furious, which is under a federal and congressional investigation after weapons linked to program were used in a December attack in Mexico that killed a U.S. border patrol agent.


The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives promoted three key supervisors of Operation Fast and Furious who came under fire for pushing the program even after it clearly spiraled out of control.


The three supervisors -- William Newell and David Voth, both field supervisors who managed the program out of the agency’s Phoenix office, and William McMahon, who was the ATF’s deputy director of operations in the West -- are being transferred to Washington for new management positions at the agency’s headquarters, the newspaper reported.


“Until Attorney General (Eric) Holder and Justice Department officials come clean on all alleged gun-walking operations, including a detailed response to allegations of a Texas-based scheme, it is inconceivable to reward those who spearheaded this disastrous operation with cushy desks in Washington,” said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.


Cornyn sent a letter to Holder last week demanding answers following reports of alleged Texas-based “gun-walking” programs similar to “Fast and Furious.”

Comment: At the rate ATF is screwing up we should see Congress expand the size and scope of this worthless department where it will eclipse DoD and Education. That's the congressional way; screw up and expand government, and that's template of success that has gotten us where we are today!

The Dung Beetle liken to the U.S. Congress

My grandson enjoys watching insect videos on the internet.  Yesterday, we found one about the dung beetle on youtube.com.  He and I watched these creatures live their existence around manure piles.

Much later, the idea struck me that Congress acts are much like dung beetles. The scenario begins with a large animal dropping a load of manure on a grassy field, and here is the wealth of any dung beetle. With such a fresh pile of wealth, dung beetles swarm into it.

Each beetle pushes, pulls, and rolls as much dung as it can possibly manage. Dung beetles use their hind legs to push or roll their wealth. Their backsides are up in the air, while their front legs and face are in the dirt. They are unable to see where they shove their wealth.  Blindly, the manure rolls toward its distribution center.

Within a short time, these beetles have grabbed their wealth. Each rolls it away to its chosen place. Male and female beetles mate at night. They bury the dung, where the female lays her eggs. When the larva has grown enough, beetles feed dung to their larva, which mature into more dung beetles.

Our government has not had a balanced budget since 1969. Each successive congress sniffs the air, finds fresh dropping, and scouts for other fields of fresh wealth. Each successive congress grabs more and more wealth. Each elected representative rolls his acquired wealth into a specified district.  Then, the wealth is fed to those larva-like congressional favorites.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate do not care where the wealth comes from. Their sole responsibility is to generate legislation that takes enables them to gather national assets, which can be redistributed to their pet projects: aka/ “earmarks”. Neither do they do their actions straight ahead. Like the dung beetle, these special, elite leaders go into committees, hold a secret caucus, or manipulate the system through the courts.

Americans have experienced these stinky deals since 2008. First, we were forced to eat. Congressional stimulus I - - bailing out a whole swarm of financial companies. Next, walking on their hind legs and not knowing where they were going, Congress passed the Obama Universal Health Care bill. Following that, Congress discovered a new fertile pile of wealth: Stimulus II. Stimulus II was suppose to revitalize our America work force with “shovel Ready” projects.( Never mind that the tax payer has paid for these same infrastructures many times over.) At last, Congress found the mother load and a method to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

The dung beetle is a master for finding and distributing fresh manure. The U.S. Congress is an ingenious group with a license to maneuver monies. If voters reject some officials, the other crawl into court. I.e. 25 states have challenged to Obama National Health Care law as being unconstitutional. But instead of listening to a majority of states, the challenge moves form on federal court to another. The Federal Reserve has a legal right to print money, and Congress authorized another huge printing with Q3.

O.K. You go watch the dung beetle for yourself

Schumer Using the Power of Homeland Security

Here's Schumer using the power of Homeland Security...

Fake IDs sold online on China-based websites have become so realistic that they are posing a danger to America’s youth, US Senator Charles Schumer said Thursday.


Those fake driver’s licenses promote underage drinking and drunk driving among teens including those in the Hudson Valley, he said while making a stop in Newburgh.


“I am urging the Department of Homeland Security to tell our money wire houses – the Western Unions, the PayPal, all of these wire houses that send money, not to send them to these websites,” he said. “They are in China and that’s the best way we can strangle them financially and then they can’t do anything because these websites, their only goal is to send out fake IDs.”

Comment: There is no problem and yet Schumer creates one then uses the power of big government to be the attack dog, which is furthering the DHS police state assault on the Internet.

Schumer; 1 of a 100 reason to repeal the 17th Amendment. 

Podcast: Lamb on S.1090 - Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2011

Host Brian Duffy interviewed Henry Lamb, Freedom 21, about S.1090 - Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2011 and the overt link the bill has with the United Nations’ Agenda 21 program; and the US Senate’s continued integration of Agenda 21 into US legislation.

The Podcast.

Readings and Links related to this podcast:

• S.1090 - Tennessee Wilderness Act of 2011 (OpenCongress) 
• Senator Lamar Alexander (OpenCongress) 
• Wilderness Act (Wikipedia) 
• Agenda 21 (Wikipedia) 
• Agenda 21 (The United Nations) 
• International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) 
• Henry Lamb's writing in World Net Daily 
• Henry Lamb's writing in Canada Free Press 
• Henry Lamb 
• Freedom21 
• Repeal17Now! 
• U.N.'s Agenda 21 is in your community (World Net Daily) 
• The History of Sustainable Development - Connecting the Dots (Campaign for Liberty) 
• WHY ARE AMERICANS IGNORANT OF 'AGENDA 21'? (News With Views) 
• Obama Administration Establishes White House Rural Council to Strengthen Rural Communities (The White House) 
• Does The New ‘White House Rural Council’ = UN’s Agenda 21? (The Blaze) 
• Agenda 21 and Obama’s Rural Council? (Canadian Free Press) 
• Rawesome Foods 
• Rawesome foods raided: A sad day for America (Washington Times) 
• President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) (Clinton Administration) 
• Podcast: Henry Lamb on the Repeal 17 Now! Project (Repeal the 17th Amendment Weblog) 
• S.1619 - Livable Communities Act of 2009 (Repeal the 17th Amendment Weblog)

If They Had Any Honor

If Senators Kyl, Toomey and Portman had any honor they would decline their appointed "Super Congress" position in protest against the incontrovertible attack upon the US Constitution  and for our republican form of government by the passage of S.365, as should every member of Congress who took an oath to uphold and defend the US Constitution.

More Homeland Stupidity

Normally I stay within a narrow scope when posting here but every now and then there is a story that highlights just how far off the track this country has gotten and how our "public servants" screw us at every turn. This head line says it all: DHS completes tests on mind reading technology.

So for all you naysayers out there, what is it going to take for you to repeal the 17th Amendment?

Ron and Rand Paul say downgrade is fault of Washington, not Tea Party

Ron and Rand Paul say downgrade is fault of Washington, not Tea Party; CBSNews

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., and his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., both blasted Tea Party critics on Monday for suggesting that the conservative movement with which they're both linked may have had something to do with America's recent credit downgrade by the ratings agency Standard & Poor's.


The elder Paul, a longtime lawmaker, staunch libertarian, and presidential candidate, decried the allegations as an "attempt to scapegoat" Tea Party lawmakers. He pinned the downgrade on the Washington establishment.


"This attempt to scapegoat folks who recognize that our debt is out of control and that we must change course should not be tolerated," he said in a Monday statement. "They are simply demanding that Washington do its job."


Read the rest here.

Mark Hatfield Dead: Former Senator & Governor Dies At 89

Former Senator Mark Hatfield's political career reads like a House member, not a US Senator as the founders intended.

Coburn: ‘Yes,' Federal Spending Will Be Higher in FY 2012 than in FY 2011

Coburn: ‘Yes,' Federal Spending Will Be Higher in FY 2012 than in FY 2011; CNSNews.com

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) told CNSNews.com that the Budget Control Act of 2011 does not actually cut spending for fiscal year 2012, which means the federal government will spend more in FY 2012 than it did in FY 2011.

Shortly before the Senate vote on the debt ceiling legislation on Tuesday, CNSNews.com asked Coburn: “Under this current debt ceiling bill, will the federal government spend more in fiscal 2012 than it did in fiscal 2011?”

Coburn's one-word response: “Yes.”

CNSNews.com followed up by asking, “So this is not a bill cutting spending?” He replied, “No.”

The Senate passed the Budget Control Act 74-26 on Tuesday, beating the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law today.

The act allows the president to request a debt ceiling raise of $400 billion immediately, then another $500 billion in the fall dependent upon congressional approval. Through spending caps, the GOP leadership managed to achieve dollar-for-dollar spending cuts over the next 10 years.

Comment: It's interesting to read all the commentaries throughout the web from bloggers and pundits alike, of which the majority still believe that Republicans caved or Obama caved, but the truth is what we got in S.365 is what the oligarchs wanted. Just as the oligarchs got what they wanted in 1913. There is no competition of ideals or political parties in Washington; only one agenda, one direction, one party.

Yet time and time again the American people fall for the circus act and smoke and mirrors. Unfortunately the realization will only come when we truly go bankrupt and hit actual rock bottom, it's sad to say. If our neighbors don't understand what took place with S.365 and that whole debt and budget battle is unconstitutional and is in fact killing our country, then there is little hope we'll turn this around. If we do not have a sense of what is right and wrong the oligarchs will continue to rob us blind and truly makes us slaves to the government, something a few believe we are already living.

Name the Lord of the Rings Character John McCain is Most Like

Name the Lord of the Rings Character John McCain is most like...I say he’s a Nazgul; what say you?

Is Super Congress Constitutional?

Faces of Evil

A Tea Party Shock to the System

A Tea Party Shock to the System; Stephen Carter; The Daily Beast

This is good article and worth reading completely, but I'll cut to the point that needs to be raised with your neighbors, co-workers, family, etc...

The Founders cherished the relative independence of the Senate as a crucial check on political passion. But the independence of all legislators, including the senators, has been hobbled by the way in which modern digital media allow those of strong ideological conviction to band together more easily and follow more precisely every utterance of every public opinion. This development is rightly celebrated and is strongly pro-democratic (small “d”), empowering those the establishment ignores. We should note, however, that it is also anti-republican (small “r”), costing us the services of the Burkean politician, the man or woman who believes that legislators owe us not a slavish serving of our smallest desire, but the constant exercise of their judgment, conscience, and prudence. In such an atmosphere, reasoned debate and thoughtful compromise become enormously difficult to achieve.


Thus the 17th Amendment, adopted in 1913 to provide for direct election of the Senate, may have been a mistake. Previously, senators had been appointed by state legislatures, a fact that insulated them from at least some of the reelection pressures experienced by members of the House. (One might object that many state legislatures, too, fall prey to the passions of the moment, but the legislatures suffer from an insufficiency of public attention: had the states retained the power to appoint senators, the citizenry would surely keep better track of legislative elections.)


How can all of this be fixed? We might usefully begin by repealing the Seventeenth Amendment and returning the selection of Senators to the state legislatures. But tinkering with the constitutional structure will not resolve the fundamental problem, which lies in our culture, and in ourselves. The nation’s attention span has grown so short that while we might seem, at first blush, obsessed with politics, we are really obsessed with political commentary, with following the latest and snarkiest slogan aimed at the side we happen to disagree with. We are less inclined than ever to give politicians the space to argue for their views at any length; we are not interested in being persuaded. What we care about is the bottom line—as long as the bottom line is no more than 140 characters. This tendency rewards, on both sides of the aisle, the politics of slogan and emotional appeal, cheerleading rather than governance. In such an atmosphere, it is all but impossible for government to be done seriously.

(Note: Bold font used by blogger.)

Teleforum sponsored by the Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group

A Teleforum sponsored by the Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group
Featuring

Professor Ilya Somin*
Associate Professor
George Mason University School of Law

and

Professor Todd J. Zywicki**
George Mason University Foundation Professor
George Mason University School of Law


Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
at 1:00 p.m. (EDT)
1-888-752-3232

No registration is necessary.

To participate on this practice group Teleforum, please dial in to 1-888-752-3232
on Tuesday, August 2nd at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) via telephone.

In their Engage article, "Ramifications of Repealing the 17th Amendment," Professors Todd Zywicki and Ilya Somin of George Mason University School of Law debate whether repealing the 17th Amendment would restore the principles of federalism to the U.S. constitutional system by increasing state power. On this call, the authors will address the topic of this paper during a discussion of this just-released Engage article, which is available here.

After opening remarks, Professors Somin and Zywicki will take questions from callers.

Repeal the 17th Amendment? Forthcoming Engage Article

Repeal the 17th Amendment? Forthcoming Engage Article: FedSoc Blog

There have lately been calls to repeal the 17th Amendment, which was ratified in 1913 and replaced the election of U.S. senators by state legislators under the original constitutional system with the current system of election by the people of each state.
To contribute to this debate, Professors Todd Zywicki and Ilya Somin of George Mason University School of Law have written an article for the forthcoming August 2011 edition of Engage: The Journal of the Federalist Society Practice Groups debating whether repealing the 17th Amendment would restore the original intent of the Founders by increasing the power of the states in the federal system.
Prof. Zywicki argues that repeal would benefit the federal system by returning to state legislatures the authority to elect senators and thus effectively granting them an opportunity to directly influence federal legislation being considered at the federal level. Prof. Somin argues, on the other hand, that repeal would do little if anything to curb federal power because states would probably still allow their citizens to elect U.S. senators, and because senators would still have insufficient incentive to limit federal power.
Click here for the pdf of the article, brought to you by the Federalist Society's Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group.

HuffPost Commenter Gets It

BoudiccaBlanc gets it:

“We need to repeal the 17th Amendment so that our state legislatur­es control the US Senators, not the lobbyists!”

Podast: Duffy on the Super Congress and the Imbecilic Senate

Host Brian Duffy talked about the current affairs in the US Senate, the “Super Congress” and other imbecilic events that demonstrate the need for repealing the 17th Amendment.

The podcast:

Sen. Lee threatens to filibuster debt ceiling vote

Sen. Lee threatens to filibuster debt ceiling vote; CNN

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Sunday night that he will filibuster Monday's Senate vote. (See the video here.)

Comment: The comments for this video were enlightening, to say the least, and demonstrate a couple of revealing points: one, too many Americans don't understand what is going on with this debt crisis. This is due in part to the media, special interest, general ignorance, and the fact that most the politicians out there don't have much of a clue either; and second, in the case of the comments on the CNN site, these folks believe that if the US Government applies for a few more credit cards everything will be okay again and the spending can continue.

Having the states at the federal table to provide a check and balance to the unbridled spending for special interest is the single most important action this county can accomplish, and the only way this can be done is to repeal the 17th Amendment.

Proof That Marco Rubio Is Awful

Kristol wants a Ryan–Rubio GOP ticket for 2012; The Daily Caller

HT: Lew Rockwell's Political Theater

On “Fox News Sunday,” Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol reiterated his support for a Paul Ryan–Marco Rubio presidential dream ticket.


“I think it should be Ryan-Rubio, but if Paul Ryan is a little hesitant to seize the moment, I think Marco Rubio has to do it and make Paul Ryan his vice president,” Kristol said. “But Ryan–Rubio or Rubio–Ryan would be a very strong ticket. These are two pretty spectacular speeches given on the floor of the House Thursday night, then on the floor of the Senate by Rubio yesterday.” (Marco Rubio: ‘Why we must save Medicare’)


While such a ticket between the House Budget chairman and the freshman Florida senator seems unlikely at this stage in the electoral game, Kristol explained how the drama over raising the debt ceiling has made the ticket more plausible.


“Yes, because the presidential candidates — Michele Bachmann is against any deal, Jon Huntsman’s for any deal,” he said. “The rest of them have been ducking or as we say in the Obama era, ‘Leading from behind.’ I think Republican primary voters would welcome a Ryan–Rubio ticket.” ...

Read the rest here.

Comment: From my perspective, a neo con is one side of the statist coin, with the progressives on the other. So anything from Kristol's mouth can only mean more government, more war, more police state, less freedoms and the United States sinking further in the hole we are in. 

VOTE RON PAUL 2012