Gillibrand Speech on Dream Act and DADT

White County Tea Party Patriots interviews Senator Richard Lugar

Senator Lautenberg at 03/22/2011 Planned Parenthood Rally

The Seventeenth Summary 03-30-2011 AM

How to Stop a Runaway Federal Government!
The Moral Liberal
The 17th Amendment is the problem. The solution is to repeal the 17th Amendment. ... There is a great need to repeal the 17th Amendment, which is likely to ...

The Perfect Christmas Gift
The Moral Liberal
This gift comes in three parts: repeal of the 17th Amendment; protection of the Electoral College; and a clear definition of the powers of the federal ...

Madison's Notes — Federal Convention of 1787 — July 9
The Moral Liberal
Madison said the Senate intended as “guardians of property” — that intent was upended with the passing of the 17th Amendment, which ought, in this editor's ...

(Following Advance for Use Friday, April 8)
Sify
In 1913, the 17th Amendment to the Constitution, providing for direct popular election of United States senators (as opposed to appointment by state ...

Erin Brockovich testifies to US Senate about pollution, cancer
89.3 KPCC
A Senate panel looking at a bill on pollution and cancer heard today from environmental law activist Erin Brockovich. Erin Brockovich's work on a cancer cluster in the California desert town of Hinkley led to a lawsuit, and later a Hollywood movie. ...

 America's Health V. Polluters: Which Side Will the U.S. Senate Pick?
Natural Resources Defense Council (blog)
We agree with many Members in the US Senate and House of Representatives that Congress should take the lead in addressing climate change by passing comprehensive climate and energy legislation. However, in the absence of such legislation in the ...

Top US senator eyes vote to authorize Libya strikes
AFP
WASHINGTON — A top US senator and White House ally said Tuesday he may seek formal congressional approval for US military action in support of NATO strikes in Libya. "I'm interested in a vote authorizing military action," Senate Armed Services ...

Budget Negotiations Stall Amid Charges of Inaction as US Shutdown Looms
Bloomberg
With no accord in sight on legislation to extend government spending past April 8, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, accused Republican leaders of trying to placate an “extreme minority” of their party by spurning an offer to reach ...

House, Senate No. 2s battle over federal budget
Argus Press
Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other GOP leaders comment on the Senate Democratic leadership and the problems in passing a long-term spending bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 29, 2011. He is joined, from left to right ...

After settling into his new Washington surroundings, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio ...
ABC Action News
DC - After his highly-publicized defeat of Charlie Crist in the 2010 US Senate race, Marco Rubio has kept relatively quiet...until now. ABC News spent several days with the new Senator in both Washington and Florida. In an exclusive interview, ...

Hollywood 'terrible' at marketing itself: lobbyist
Los Angeles Times
Dodd, who spent three decades in the US Senate and was a high-profile figure during the financial meltdown, took over as chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America nine days. CinemaCon, an annual convention where studios tout their ...

Creeping Civil Liberties
Tapped (blog)
A few short minutes into the first ever Senate hearing on protecting the civil rights of Muslim Americans, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl sounded like he'd rather be in a different hearing. "I'm a bit perplexed about the motives for today's hearing," Kyl said ...

Dick “Pol Pot” Durbin Holds Senate Show Hearings on Islamophobia ...
By Jim Hoft
Democrats held their own Muslim senate hearing to counter the hearing last month in the House on Islamic radicalism. Senator Dick “Pol Pot” Durbin (D-IL) and fellow democrats wanted to examine Muslims' civil rights in the US. ...

The Note: Lessons On Libya: Obama Answers Why U.S. Got Into Libya, But Not How ...
ABC News (blog)
“The Granite Status has learned that Paul Collins, a nearly 30-year political campaign organizer and former congressional and US Senate chief of staff, and Brad Blais, a key player in US Rep. Charlie Bass' 2010 campaign, are joining the Horizon PAC as ...

POET CEO Jeff Broin to testify before US Senate Committee on Agriculture ...
RenewableEnergyWorld.com
The hearing, held by the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, is titled “Fundamentals and Farming: Evaluating High Gas Prices and How New Rules and Innovative Farming Can Help”. Broin will discuss how agriculture is already ...

Senate Action Alert: Small Business Bill | RedState
By dhorowitz3 (Profile)
The major legislative item on the agenda in the Senate this week will be The Small Business Reauthorization Act (S. 493). Republicans plan to use this bill.

Senate to Hear Testimony on Nuclear Safety - NYTimes.com
By By MATTHEW L. WALD
One issue is the progress of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's effort, announced last week, to review the safety of American plants over the next 90 days.

Schumer Game Plan Overheard by Reporter

Schumer coordinates Dem budget attack on GOP; Beltway Confidential

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Democratic Senate leadership, got on a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning without realizing the reporters were already listening in. Schumer thought he was on a private line with four Democratic senators who were to talk with reporters about the current budget stalemate.

Schumer instructed the group, made up of Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Tom Carper of Delaware, Ben Cardin of Maryland and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, to tell reporters that the GOP is refusing to negotiate.

He told the group to make sure they label the GOP spending cuts as "extreme."

"I always use extreme, Schumer said. "That is what the caucus instructed me to use."

Someone must have finally told Schumer that the media were listening and he stopped talking midsentence.

Here's a bit more of what he said about House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, according to my notes.

"The main thrust is basically that we want to negotiate and we want to come up with a compromise but the Tea Party is pulling Boehner too far over to the right and so far over that there is no more fruitful negotiations," Schumer said on the call. "The only way we can avoid a shutdown is for Boehner to come up with a reasonable compromise and not just listen to what the Tea Party wants. "

Read the rest here.

Comment: Tea Party folks should take notice; this says more about the shallowness of Boehner than the partisanship of Schumer.

"Gun runner" scandal allegedly connected to agent's death

"Gun runner" scandal allegedly connected to agent's death: CBSNews

See the video here.

ATF Allows Flow of Guns Into Mexico

ATF Allows Flow of Guns Into Mexico; Gun Owners of America

Scandal along the U.S. – Mexico border continues to plague the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and is raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.


When Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot and mortally wounded in a gun battle about 10 miles from the Mexico border in Arizona in December, 2010, it appeared to be yet another example of Mexico drug gang violence spilling over the border. But as more and more information from the crime scene leaked out, disturbing evidence also pointed to serious wrongdoing at the ATF.


Since 2005, the ATF has been involved in an initiative called "Project Gunrunner."


Under this plan, ATF was to trace the flow of guns supposedly trafficked by straw purchasers in the U.S. to across the border into Mexico. When concerned firearms dealers, fearing the guns were being sent into Mexico, contacted ATF, they were instructed to proceed with the questionable and illegal sales to suspected straw buyers.


The mismanagement and botched oversight of "Gunrunner" has led to what has become known as the "Gunwalker" scandal.


According to current and former agents, perhaps as many as 3,000 firearms were allowed by ATF to "walk" across the border into Mexico. But the firearms—along with any hope of tracking them to higher level criminals—disappeared once the guns crossed the border. The ATF literally lost track of the weapons.


Two of these guns, however, turned up at the scene of Brian Terry's murder. They were traced to an American gun store that had been cooperating with the Phoenix ATF office as part of Project Gunrunner.


The information about Agent Terry's murder and the potential role played by Gunrunner came to the attention of Iowa Senator Charles Grassley, who sent a letter of inquiry to Acting ATF Director Ken Melson. In the letter, Sen. Grassley wrote that the Judiciary Committee, of which he is the ranking member, "received numerous allegations" that the ATF authorized the sale of hundreds of firearms to suspected illegal buyers, "who then allegedly transported these weapons throughout the southwestern border area and into Mexico....Two of the weapons were then allegedly used in a firefight...killing CPB Agent Brian Terry."


Senator Grassley went on to quote from a scathing Department of Justice review of Project Gunrunner, which found that ATF focused on low level, individual straw buyers "instead of targeting higher-level traffickers and smugglers."


Sen. Grassley clearly ruffled some feathers in the agency. When an agent in the ATF's Phoenix office spoke to someone on Grassley's staff, that agent was accused by a superior of "misconduct related to his contacts with the Senate Judiciary Committee." The Senator had to remind the agency of federal whistleblower protections and that agents "have the rights to be free from fear of retaliation or reprisal" for speaking with members of Congress. "Rather than focusing on retaliating against whistleblowers, the ATF's sole focus should be on finding and disclosing the truth as soon as possible."

Read the rest here.

Sen. Paul Responds To Obama's Libya Speech

Transcript:

The President of the United States often faces unforeseeable dilemmas that demand tough decisions based on reliable intelligence. The recent events in Libya presented President Obama with such a scenario. But how our Commander in Chief chose to handle this new dilemma raises serious questions about his understanding of constitutional checks and balances.

Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi is every bit the madman Ronald Reagan once said he was, but are the rebels adherents to Jeffersonian democracy or Bin Laden’s radical jihad?

In 2007, then-candidate Obama said that “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”

I agree with candidate Obama. Unfortunately, President Obama has failed to heed his own advice. He has ignored our constitution and engaged us in a military conflict without congressional debate and approval.

...

The subtext to the President’s speech concerning Libya tonight was “What if we had done nothing?” But a better question might be, What if helping Libya’s interest actually hurts America’s interests? What if we are sending our military to places where we might actually be helping the same terrorists we fight in other countries or potential future terrorists?

It’s time that we re-examine these policies by once again consulting the Constitution on such matters and the common-sense principles that made this country great. We can no longer afford to spend what we don’t have. And we can’t afford to address every other nation’s problems before we can address our own.

Over the coming days and weeks, Congress will force President Obama to confront these questions. Our brave young men and women have answered the call of duty time and time again over the past decade.

The Seventeenth Summary 03-26-2011 AM

FEC Yet To Issue New Campaign Spending Rules In Wake Of Citizens ...

Huffington Post
What about repealing the 17th amendment as a way to get money out of elections? There shouldn't be any restrictions on how much money corporations, unions, ...

Which is preferred — a republic or a democracy?
Maui News
However, the far right espouses a plutocratic, anti-democratic republic including repeal of the 17th Amendment because it gives too much power to the people ...

Senator McCaskill Answer Questions About Unpaid Property Taxes
FOX2now.com
Missouri's senior Senator says her office inadvertantly billed taxpayers for political trips taken on her private plane, a mistake that cost her $88000 re-paid to the US Treasury. Then it turned out personal property taxes on the plane--an 11-year old ...

Bush aide Yoo on Obama: 'Anti-war senator, war powers president'
USA Today
Some George W. Bush-era Republicans are having another I-told-you-so moment over President Obama and Libya. Yoo -- a former Justice Department officials much criticized for his advocacy of sweeping executive power during the ...

Ex-Aide to Senator Ensign Indicted for Corruption
Courthouse News Service
Ensign is also not named in the indictment, which notes that the position of administrative assistant was one of the most senior positions on the senator's staff. In June 2008, Allegiant Air was apparently unhappy that the Department of Transportation ...

Zuckerberg In Zion: Speaks To Senator Hatch, Students At BYU
Search Engine Land
You might wonder what in the world could bring the Harvard dropout and under-30 founder of Facebook together with the 77-year-old conservative Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to talk to students and attendees at Brigham Young University earlier today. ...

Report: Senator McCain wants deal to keep Coyotes in Phoenix
TSN
Senator John McCain spoke to a Phoenix radio station on Friday and said that he was "very unhappy" with the way that Goldwater Institute has threatened to sue if the city and Hulsizer sign off on a deal that would see Glendale selling bonds to pay ...

Senator calls for CMS investigation into KV price hike
Bizjournals.com
US Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said Friday he has called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to investigate KV Pharmaceutical's 150-fold price increase for a drug used to prevent pregnant women from delivering premature babies. ...

Senator wants to keep Falls base operating
WIVB
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand toured the base on Friday. The Senator is pushing for additional expansion and improvements to keep Niagara Falls as an essential part of America's defense infrastructure. "There's so much potential for growth. ...

Senator Sessions Nearly Grasps The Truth | RedState
By Repair_Man_Jack (Profile)
I've known dozens of junkies over the years and they were all egocentric. They lie and cheat and steal and if you provide them with any kind of excuse for.

Senator Grassley Worried About GOP Contenders « Alan Colmes ...
By Stuart Shapiro
It's one thing for me to cast aspersions on the Republican field of contenders for the presidential nomination, but it is quite another for Republican Senator Chuck Grassley to do so. But aspersions were cast: ...

Wisconsin GOP Senator Reveals Embarrassing Prejudice In Attack On ...
By Rick Ungar
Earlier this week, I took Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson to task for a remarkably ill-informed and highly cynical op-ed piece he wrote in the Wall Street Journal attacking health care reform on its one-year anniversary.

Signs of Life in Senate for Obama's 'Clean Energy Standard'
Reuters
In his usual diplomatic and straightforward fashion, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee joined with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the top Republican on the panel, this week to solicit ideas from one and all about how to ...

War in Libya Rages on; Where's Your Senator?

Libya rages on and increases in cost and scope as each day progresses, and conveniently the US Senate is out of session. So do you know where your US Senator is?

That’s an easy answer; out collecting campaign donations. You see when our US Senators return home, and “home” is used loosely here because many actually reside in the Washington D.C. area permanently, all start beating the streets looking for more money to get re-elected, which during the 2004 election season cost on average of $7 million per senatorial campaign, some reaching the mark of $19 million. Moreover their travels aren’t confined to their respective states but many travel throughout the US and in some case globally looking to fill their campaign chests.

The Seventeenth Summary 03-24-2011 PM

Top US senator: Libya strikes about regional ties
Middle East Online
"What we are trying to assert are the basic values of our country to make certain that the next generation of leaders in these nations that are undergoing change can identify with the United States," said Democratic Assistant Senate Majority leader Dick Durbin.

Comment: Can you say “hegemony” Sen. Durbin?

Senate Judiciary panel sets hearing for next week on protecting Muslims' civil ...
Washington Post
 A Senate Judiciary subcommittee plans to hold a hearing next week examining the issue of American Muslims' civil rights, less than three weeks after the controversial House committee hearing, led by Rep. ...

Comment: Watch for renewed calls to limit freedom of speech.

U.S. spending on military operations in Libya drains Pentagon
Washington Post
Sen. Jack Reed (DR.I.), also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that the financial burden of operations in Libya would have been greater had the United States acted without other coalition partners.

Comment: Wow it's a good thing we have Senators like Jack Reed who really care about fiscal responsibility instead of that silly constitutional issue. Hell with coalition partners, we can invade every country (this is part where we add Dr. Evil laughing)!

Maine's Snowe calls for women's rights
Boston Globe
The 17 females in the US Senate, led by Olympia Snowe of Maine, are calling on leaders in North Africa and the Middle East to include women when it comes to making decisions that affect their lives. Snowe is the sponsor of a resolution ...

Comment: You knew the leftist angle had to be figured into this invasion. Soon we’ll be watching Michelle Obama telling us it was for the children.

Sheriff Joe: 'Have you forgotten me?'
Arizona Republic
Why isn't there more interest in the fact that he is contemplating a run for the US Senate? Why did the media so quickly pass over the raid his deputies conducted on five Pei Wei Asian Diner locations in the Valley, rounding up a bunch of employees ...

Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy

Unreported Soros Event Aims to Remake Entire Global Economy; Business and Media Institute

Two years ago, George Soros said he wanted to reorganize the entire global economic system. In two short weeks, he is going to start - and no one seems to have noticed.

On April 8, a group he's funded with $50 million is holding a major economic conference and Soros's goal for such an event is to "establish new international rules" and "reform the currency system." It's all according to a plan laid out in a Nov. 4, 2009, Soros op-ed calling for "a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order."

The event is bringing together "more than 200 academic, business and government policy thought leaders' to repeat the famed 1944 Bretton Woods gathering that helped create the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Soros wants a new 'multilateral system," or an economic system where America isn't so dominant.

More than two-thirds of the slated speakers have direct ties to Soros. The billionaire who thinks "the main enemy of the open society, I believe, is no longer the communist but the capitalist threat" is taking no chances.

Thus far, this global gathering has generated less publicity than a spelling bee. And that's with at least four journalists on the speakers list, including a managing editor for the Financial Times and editors for both Reuters and The Times. Given Soros's warnings of what might happen without an agreement, this should be a big deal. But it's not.

What is a big deal is that Soros is doing exactly what he wanted to do. His 2009 commentary pushed for "a new Bretton Woods conference, like the one that established the post-WWII international financial architecture." And he had already set the wheels in motion.

Read the rest here.

Comment: I have a couple of take aways concerning this article:

The Seventeenth Summary 03-23-2011 PM

The Jawa Report: Senate Dems Counter to Rep Kings Hearings on ...
By Stable Hand
Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, announced the subcommittee hearing Tuesday, saying there has been a spike in anti-Muslim bigotry in the last year that demands closer attention. “Our Constitution protects the ...

Senator leads rally for Planned Parenthood in Englewood
NorthJersey.com
 Sen. Frank Lautenberg led a rally on Tuesday morning along with other officials, including Assembly Woman Valerie Huttle, to support Planned Parenthood and to urge Congress to continue providing federal funding for women's ...

Standing With Senator Claire McCaskill
Huffington Post (blog)
I haven't always agreed with Senator Claire McCaskill but I have always admired her because she knows how to fight for what she believes in. And there are way too many politicians whose first instinct is to back down when the going gets tough. ...

Senator asks DOJ and FCC to do their jobs, provide friction for ...
By Darren Murph
There's always one. Back in the winter of 2009, Senator Kerry made public his request for Fox and Time Warner to keep the Bowl Games.

Senator wants to know cost of the new war - The Hill's Blog ...
By dstrauss@thehill.com (Daniel Strauss)
Senator wants to know cost of the new war. By Daniel Strauss - 03/22/11 05:17 PM ET. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) called on President Obama to specify the cost of U.S. involvement in a multinational effort to enforce a United Nations ...

Senator Bennet to Obama: 'deficit reduction is imperative ...
By Scot Kersgaard
Colorado Senator Michael Bennet has written a letter to President Obama asking for the president's support and leadership in cutting the deficit. The letter has been panned and praised.

Senate Dems: GOP Cuts Would Cause Surge In Gas Prices
Huffington Post
With gas prices soaring, 45 Senate Democrats signed a letter on Tuesday urging GOP leaders not to gut financial regulations designed to keep food and energy prices under control. Republicans are attempting to slash the budget for a key ...

Sen. Brown: Planned Parenthood Funding Ban 'Goes Too Far'
Fox News
Scott Brown takes part in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill Feb. 17. Republican Sen. Scott Brown announced Tuesday that he opposes a GOP-backed proposal to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding, saying the ban "goes too ...

Gillibrand's math
Politico (blog)
Kristen Gillibrand says the GOP is 3 seats short of capturing the Senate in 2012, writing "we have another fight on our hands, and I need your help. Republicans are just three seats short of a majority in the Senate and they are determined to control ...

Senate Looks for New Ways To Restrict Internet

Senators start talks on larger cybersecurity bill; Federal Computer Week

Senators are beginning talks on pushing cybersecurity legislation, hoping for a successful run this time.


Top Senate staff members have been in discussions for several weeks, working to parse language from at least two separate cybersecurity bills that were introduced but not passed in the previous Congress, while senators have just joined the talks, according to Molly Wilkinson, counsel for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. ...


Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 last June. The committee approved the legislation by voice vote in December, but it died in the full Senate.


A similar bill, the Cybersecurity Act of 2010, was introduced by Sens. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), a committee member, in April 2009. The panel approved the legislation, but the Senate never acted on it.


Now, Wilkinson said, staff members from the two committees, as well as the intelligence committee and others, are trying to find the best of both bills and merge them into one. ...

Senate passes Libya resolution ... three weeks ago.

Comment: I submit this article from three weeks ago not so much to defend or endorse Pres Obama's decision to commit to the action in Libya, or to state that his Constitutional obligations were strictly satisfied (the case for that is flimsy, even in light of this article) ... but I do think that there is a level of intellectual dishonesty by Senators saying they weren't consulted at some point given the very fact they signed off on the concept of a no-fly zone three weeks ago.

It comes dangerously close to the realm of voting for it before voting against it. One wonders if appointed Senators would squirm so much, would participate in interventionist policies and acts and spend so much of their time having retract their behavior as these elected ones do.

The US Is Completely in the Hands of Senate; Libya Proves it

Obama, Clinton, and Biden Agree: War on Libya Is Unconstitutional; New American

What a difference an election makes. The man who just singlehandedly committed the United States to war against Libya, President Barack Obama, told the Boston Globe in 2007:


The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.


In this Obama was absolutely correct. What, then, explains his reversal? Three possibilities exist: (1) he never believed that the Constitution constrains the President from initiating war but said he did in order to get elected; (2) he believed it in 2007 but changed his mind upon taking office; or (3) he believed it in 2007 and still believes it but thinks he can get away with violating his oath of office because Congress is too timid to put the brakes on the mission now that it is under way. None of these puts the President in a particularly good light. ...


Read the rest here.

The Seventeenth Summary 03-22-2011 PM

US senator meets Egyptian leaders on regional issues, economic support

People's Daily Online
They discussed the latest developments on the Arab arena, boosting US-Egyptian relations and US economic assistance to Egypt at this stage. Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry arrived here on Sunday. US Secretary of State ...

Republicans seek federal review of hospital tax, key to O'Malley budget may ...
Washington Post
But Senate Republicans, in a March 17 letter to the US Department of Health and Human Services inspector general, said that plan violates an agreement with the federal government that allows the state to set health care costs. ...

Kirk says U.S., allies should take out Gadhafi's regime
Chicago Tribune
Similarly, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat running for US Senate, has come under fire for saying he served in Vietnam when he actually served stateside. The Blumenthal flap prompted Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) to draft a bill ...

Mo. Sen. McCaskill says company she partly owns selling plane, paying $287000 ...
Washington Post
Last week, the Missouri Republican Party filed a complaint with the US Senate ethics committee. Two Republicans — former state Treasurer Sarah Steelman and ex-gubernatorial aide Ed Martin — have said they plan to run for the US Senate. ...

Kerry, key US interlocutor with Syria, to meet with PM
Jerusalem Post
Netanyahu and US Senator expected to discuss regional unrest that has now spread to Syria and Israeli-Syrian mediation efforts. US Senator John Kerry, who over the last few months has been trying to resuscitate Israeli-Syria talks, ...

Deficit reduction must leave no stone unturned
Baltimore Sun
It's not an easy task, but it is one around which all of us — Democrats, Republicans, independents — must come together as a nation if we are going to deal with our budget deficit. Recently, I gave a speech on the US Senate floor outlining what I ...

Obama's Libya Policy Makes Strange Bedfellows Of Congressional Critics
Huffington Post
“In the absence of a credible, direct threat to the United States and its allies or to our valuable national interests, what excuse is there for not seeking congressional approval of military action?” asked Rep. Jerry Nadler (DN. ...

U.S. Ambassador To Mexico Resigns | 2010 Election Results of ...
By 2010electionyear
Skip to content. 2010 Election Results of Congress and Senate Elections for 2010 ... MEXICO CITY — The U.S. ambassador to Mexico resigned Saturday amid furor over a leaked diplomatic cable in which he complained about inefficiency and infighting among Mexican security forces in the campaign against drug cartels. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Paris to meet with U.S. allies ...

17th changes vote for Senate | Courier-Post | courierpostonline.com
"Repeal of the amendment would restore both federalism and bicameralism," John Dean, former counsel to the Nixon White House, wrote about the 17th Amendment ...

House, Senate Dems break from Obama's tax policy for wealthy
The Hill (blog)
In the end, the Senate rejected both those proposals during last year's lame-duck session of Congress, paving the way for a compromise hashed out by the White House and Republicans that extended the Bush-era tax rates for two years at all income levels ...

Jefferson's defense of states' rights still valid
Edmond Sun
Amendment 9, which provides that a given right, belonging to We The People and as ... interests (nullified by the 17th Amendment, which should be repealed); ...

NRA-ILA :: Bill Introduced In U.S. Senate To Block Unauthorized ...
Bill Introduced In U.S. Senate To Block Unauthorized Record Keeping on Gun Owners. Friday, March 18, 2011. This week, U.S. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) introduced S. 570—“a bill to prohibit the Department of ...

Senate Ally Defends Obama on Gas Prices - Energy and Environment ...
By By JOHN COLLINS RUDOLF
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, delivered a long floor speech rebutting claims that Obama administration policies rather than Middle East uncertainties have driven up prices.

Where's the Sunshine on Senate Campaign Finance Reports ...
By Michael Beckel
In between, Tester introduced S. 219, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. The measure would require senators and U.S. Senate candidates to file their campaign finance reports with the Federal Election Commission -- electronically ...

The Devil You Know

An adage concerning fear about the future goes something like this, “The devil you know is better than the one you don’t know.”  That human emotion is the fear of changes, fear about an unknown future.  Whatever elements a person, a state, a nation, or a political party has feels better than attempting something new or different. Humans are comfortable with the status quo.

Examples abound.  A wife stays with an abusive husband, preferring physical harm over safety.  The United States supports tyrants and dictators, rather than resist their rule.  Welfare recipients prefer being enslaved to free handouts, instead of becoming self sufficient. Etc, etc.

The Seventeenth Summary 03-18-2011 AM

Illinois senator invites coach Mike Ditka to lunch
Victoria Advocate
 US Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois had a special guest for lunch in Washington. Kirk invited former Chicago Bears Coach Mike Ditka to join him at Thursday's weekly luncheon for Republican senators. Ditka is a legendary figure in Chicago ...

Comment: another consequence of the 17^th Amendment, where US Senators now have to gain popular support through “American Idol like” appearances. Play your fiddle Senators as Rome burns…

NJ senator Lautenberg plans hearing on bus safety
Wall Street Journal
Citing a pair of recent, fatal bus crashes in New Jersey and New York, US Sen. Frank Lautenberg plans hearings on why changes in bus-safety rules proposed in 2009 have not come to fruition. Lautenberg, a Democrat who chairs a Senate ...

YouTube - Big God, Small Government - Senator DeMint (R-SC)
By TheYoungTurks
Cenk Uygur on tea party backed Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) making outrageous comments on how as people become more dependent on government they become less dep...

Senate panel to step up TARP oversight: chairman
Reuters
A Senate committee will step up oversight of the government's unpopular TARP bank bailout program now it is losing one of its watchdogs, a top senator said on Thursday. The Senate Banking Committee will ...

Senate Democrats Call For Investigation Of U.S. Nuclear Plants
ABC News (blog)
Two Senate Democrats called today for a sweeping review of safety vulnerabilities at US nuclear plants in light of the ongoing disaster in Japan. Senators Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Tom Carper, ...

Comment: You would think that after 9/11 and the billions Congress has blindly dumped into the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy for domestic infrastructure security all of this information would be readily available. Is anyone willing to bet our nuclear program is as jack-up as the Japanese?

Bayh Disagrees with Senate Dems, Says Obama will Step In

Fox News (blog)

Bayh drew from his experience as a moderate Democrat in both the Senate and as Indiana's governor on FOX & Friends to explain President Obama's deal-making strategy on the federal budget. "Sometimes you have to wait for the legislative process to get ...

Border group leader monitored by hate watchdog group skips Arizona Senate ...
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Sylvia Allen had invited American Border Patrol Chairman Glenn Spencer to give a border assessment to the Senate's border security committee on Thursday. Allen chairs the committee. Spencer was still planning on giving the presentation early Wednesday ...

DOMA repeal bills introduced in House, Senate : Washington Blade ...
By Chris Johnson
House and Senate lawmakers on Wednesday pledged to lift the Defense of Marriage Act from the books upon the introduction of legislation that would repeal the anti-gay law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage. ...

Watch: House, Senate Dems Introduce Legislation to Repeal the ...
By Andy Towle
In the Senate, the DOMA repeal effort will be led by Sens. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt .), Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) (above) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Some 20 other co-signers have signaled their support. ...

U.S. Senate Historian Donald A. Ritchie: "After Clay: The Evolution of the Senate Leadership"

U.S. Senate Historian Donald A. Ritchie: "After Clay: The Evolution of the Senate Leadership" from McConnell Center on Vimeo.

Sen. Rand Paul on Consumer Choice in Energy Committee Hearing

The Seventeenth Summary 03-16-2011 PM

Lawmakers Preparing Bills to Delay Debit 'Swipe' Fee Caps
Bloomberg

US Senate and House lawmakers will propose legislation to delay proposed debit-card “swipe” fee caps that have been challenged by financial companies and questioned by bank regulators. Senators worked to complete their bill late ...

House Extends Federal Government Funding, Awaits Senate Approval
Politic365
The measure is headed to the US Senate where approval is expected without incident. President Barack Obama will sign the continuing resolution as the final step. The twist in the ongoing continuing resolution saga is that the budget year for the ...

US Senate Republicans push bill halting EPA CO2 rule
Reuters Africa
Republicans in the US Congress on Tuesday will try to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases by attaching the measure to an unrelated bill up for debate in the Senate. ...

Who is winning Afghanistan war? US officials increasingly disagree.
Christian Science Monitor
But some key US officials disagree with his assessment. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Afghanistan war. ...

A Republican US Senator questions the drive to de-fund NPR
Radio-Info.com
In a radio interview, Chambliss, who has received a 100% rating from the American Conservative Union, the highest score by the group and one of just 12 members of the US Senate to receive such a grade for voting conservative on issues, ...

Forcing us to use fluorescent bulbs is not a bright idea
Chicago Sun-Times
During a Senate hearing last week, US Sen. Rand Paul complained about the federal energy standards that will force conventional incandescent light bulbs off the market during the next few years. “I can't buy the old light bulbs,” the Kentucky ...

Is Sarah Palin running for U.S. Senate in Arizona? | The ...
By admin
...received more Koch Industries money than any other candidate for U.S. Senate in the 2010 election, and many of his other major contributors have personal and professional ties to the Koch brothers as well. So how have Rubio's More… ...

Opinion: How Would You Amend The Constitution?
Repeal the 16th (income tax) amendment. The same amendment should prevent the Federal Government from collecting any tax in advance. Repeal the 17th (direct ...

Constitutional Convention: 10 Point Refutation
The New American
... for example, the 16th Amendment, which gave Congress the power to collect income taxes, and the 17th Amendment, which provides for the direct election of US Senators, rather than allowing their appointment by state legislatures). ...

by Jeff Hays - repeal of the 17th Amendment
The 17th Amendment altered the Senate, damaged these twin protectors, and is the root cause of government's growth in power, reach, and spending. ...

U.S. Senate Aging Committee Considers Assisted Living Issues
PR Newswire (press release)
The roundtable is convened by the US Senate Special Committee on Aging, and is entitled "Assisted Living at the Dawn of America's 'Age Wave': What Have States Achieved and How Is the Federal Role Evolving?" The hearing starts at 1 pm, March 15, ...

RPT-US Republicans mount first Dodd-Frank challenge
Reuters
But Senate action could be hard to come by and the Obama administration could veto any measure it opposes. "It's the first direct assault," said a congressional aide. "Up until now it's been about trying to deprive the agencies of what they need to ...

Senate saves Head Start funding for now
ABC12.com
Last week, the US Senate rejected the bill that would have cut Head Start funding by 22 percent. Here's what could potentially happen if the House Bill eventually passes. Based on the 22 percent federal funding cut proposal, more than 8000 children in ...

Rubio: “I did not come to the U.S. Senate to be part of some ...
By cubachi
Rubio: “I did not come to the U.S. Senate to be part of some absurd political theatre.” Senator Marco Rubio hit all the right buttons in this opinion piece about why voting for this Continuing Resolution is a joke. He declared that he ...

Between Theory and Practice

“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

      The 1920’s and 1930’s was the era when liberal and progressives factions re-wrote Constitutional meaning and intent.  Those brilliant minds made booze illegal, added a federal income tax, gutted state sovereignty by repealing Article I, sect three, re-amped the federal court system, etc.
      The Senate ( legislative body) was not proposed in the original Constitutional draft, but it got added into our Constitution as a “bone” tossed at small state.  It morphed into a prodigious, augury, and House of Lords body, which has became all powerful through the seventeenth amendment. (visit: http://www.repealxvii.com/ for more details).  Set aside so much crap that has rolled downhill from it.   Then research just one of its big ideas: the Inter-state highway system or the “Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956”.
      Public Law 84-627, the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, was passed in June, 1956, and President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law.  It was originally limited to 41,000 miles of widen highway at a cost of 25 Billion bucks over a 20 year period.   The Senate expected it to finish around 1976.  At that point, the Senate bunch began the largest public works project in U.S. history…. Now, what could possibly be go wrong in building more good roads?
      As America transitioned away from horse and carriage toward the horseless carriage, old game trails horse trails, wagon routes were covered with gravel.  Later these became America’s highways, U.S highways were paved, as well as most State highways. The old highway system went through towns and cities.  Old U.S 50, 44 10, 69, etc were merely two lanes wide.  Driving was tedious.  Plus, those cars did not have automatic transmissions or power steering with most top speeds of 60 MPH.
      The brilliance of the U.S. senate rose to the surfaced.  The underlying legal power came from D.C. because this was national defense issue; the military need a rapid response platform for moving its equipment.  In his inaugural Address, January 20, 1953, Present Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “A people that value its privileges above its principles soon loses both."   Well, a federal trust fund was set up with the federal government paying in 90% tax monies, but the states were mandated to pay an additional 10%.
      As a result, we presently have a highway system that by-pass the heart of cities, making commutes to work easier.  There is growth in the suburbs, businesses expanding, etc.   Have people looked at the flip side of this ever-expanding cement, steel, and billboard structure?  Major cities are stacked with layers of cement and steel, which undergoes continuous repairs.  Congress keeps adding taxes into this once limited project: extra gas tax, federal and state; special stimulus monies from income tax; sales tax on new vehicles; a refinery tax, EPA carbon tax, and on and on and on.
      How can voters stop the greedy U.S. Senate?  How can we restore the body’s original, intended purpose?  In its latest bad judgment, the Senate consented (approved an appointment) an Associate Justice to the U.S Supreme Court who had never been a judge or rendered a legal opinion.
      We need our state legislative bodies to take action by calling for a Constitutional Convention, which has the sole purpose of repealing the Seventeenth Amendment.  Repealing unbalanced Amendment #17 would increase the power to each local voter; it would make Senators deliberate best solutions for their individual state; it would cut the size of federal bureaucracy. Plus, there are other benefits for citizens in the states.
      As Congress now stands, it writes any piece of legislation by affixing some mythical Constitutional interpretation.  State legislatures can rein in federal excesses.  The first step is corralling their two U.S. Senators.
      Then there’s the “Chip off the old Block” Two sea monsters were swimming around in the ocean, looking for something to do.  They came up underneath a ship that was hauling potatoes.  Bob, the first sea monster, swam underneath the ship, tipped it over and ate everything on the ship.
      A little while later, they came up to another ship, again hauling potatoes.  Bob again capsizes the ship and eats everything onboard.  The third ship they found was also hauling potatoes and Bob once again capsized it and ate everything.
      Finally his buddy Bill asked him, "Why do you keep tipping over those ships full of potatoes and eating everything on board?"
 Bob replied, "I wish I hadn't, but I just can't help myself once I start.  Everyone knows you can't eat just one potato ship."

Podcast: MacMullin on Amplifying the Tenth Amendment

Podcast: MacMullin on Amplifying the Tenth Amendment; Repeal the 17th Amendment Radio

John MacMullin discusses his paper “Amplifying the Tenth Amendment” and how the seventeenth amendment laid the foundation for centralizing authority in the federal government and reducing the tenth amendment to "meaningless rhetoric."

The podcast.

Readings and Links related to this podcast:

• Amplifying the Tenth Amendment; John MacMullin; 31 Arizona Law Review 915 (1989).
• John MacMullin
• Repeal Seventeenth Amendment; By John MacMullin
• Repeal the 17th; Mises Daily: Monday, October 23, 2000 by John MacMullin 
• National Archives Seventeenth Amendment; Devvy Kidd; March 2010

The Seventeenth Summary 03-14-2011 PM

Tearing down walls
Casper Star-Tribune Online
The house of representatives, in the past decade and a half, has several times declared in favor of the proposed constitutional amendment, and it is evident that the senate will be won over to that side before many more years pass.” The 17th Amendment ...

Defunding NPR
Human Events
The Senate debate on the House-passed long-term Continuing Resolution (CR) has hit a roadblock. Last week in the Senate, both the House Republican proposal to cut $61 billion and the Senate... Democrat proposal to cut $10 billion were

Senate GOP moderates feel heat from the tea party
MiamiHerald.com
Minutes after the Senate rejected a huge, controversial Republican budget-cutting plan last week, Democrats pounced hard, blasting moderate GOP senators who supported the package. "It is now official - Dick Lugar ...

Senate, House Blame the Other for Failed Bills
WOWK
Relations between the House and Senate grew especially chilly on the last day, with senators accusing the House of dragging their feet on certain legislation and delegates saying the Senate was sending them major pieces of legislation without spelling ...

GOP tries to lure talk show host for US Senate run
The News-Press
US Senate leaders are trying to recruit former Republican US Rep. Joe Scarborough, now a political talk show host, into entering the GOP Senate primary against Democratic US Sen. Bill Nelson, according to news reports out of Washington. Sen. ...

Campaign underway to draft Texan actor Tommy Lee Jones for US Senate
Pocono Record
A campaign to draft Hollywood actor Tommy Lee Jones to the US Senate for the Democratic Party was slowly gaining momentum Monday, with more than 1700 people on Facebook "liking" the idea. Houston attorney and radio talk show host Geoff Berg, ...

US Senator wants brakes on nuke power plants until Japan tsunami ramification ...
Sify
US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman has said that the Obama administration must put brakes, if not stops, on nuclear power plants in the country till they understand the ramification of what went wrong in Japan following an earthquake-cum-tsunami. ...

Potential Senate candidacy highlights chamber's omission
Boston Globe
Now, after little more than a year as mayor of Newton, Warren is weighing a challenge to one of the hottest commodities in the US Senate, Brown himself. Brown's surprise win the January 2010 special election to replace the late Senator Edward M. ...

End subsidies for corn-based ethanol
Baltimore Sun
Our view: What do one very liberal and one very conservative member of the US Senate have in common? A distaste for a wasteful tax credit There isn't a long list of issues that unite Maryland's Benjamin L. Cardin with Oklahoma's Tom Coburn, ...

Google Antitrust Hearing Requested by US Senators
eWeek
Despite competition that exists just a click away, the bulls-eye on Google's back has grown as big as its 65 percent US search market share in the eyes of the US Senate. One day after the US Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, ...

Google Antitrust Probe Is Urged by Republican US Senator
Bloomberg
Senator Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, added his support to a growing number of lawmakers seeking congressional hearings on Google Inc. (GOOG)'s business practices. In a letter to Herb Kohl, chairman of the ...

US Senator McCain hails Morocco reform push
AFP
Senior US Senator John McCain on Friday hailed pledges by Morocco's King Mohammed VI to pursue sweeping reforms and urged "tireless" support from Washington to help enact his agenda. "This new reform agenda builds on the king's ...

U.S. intel chief: Mexico drug violence poses security threat
Fox News
During an appearance Thursday before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Clapper reiterated the US... government's position that drug trafficking and the prevalence of drug cartels in Mexico is a "matter of national security interest in both countries.

US Senator says that high oil prices are due to an agenda by President Obama
Examiner.com
US Senator James Inhofe yesterday spoke on the floor of the Senate and said to fellow Congressmen that high oil prices for Americans are an 'explicit policy goal' of President Obama. In his speech to the Senate, Inhofe pointed out there are vast ...

IN Gov Daniels Supports Lugar and Party over Indiana

Indiana Senate: Daniels Voices Support for Lugar; Senatus

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels (R) says he’ll “support Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) in his reelection bid, despite efforts by tea party activists to oust him,” POLITICO reports.

"I’m for Dick Lugar," Daniels said on NBC’s "Meet the Press." "He is the role model I’ve had."

Comment: Daniels in choosing Lugar, so too chooses "the Party" over Indiana.

When you boil down all of Dick Lugar's years in the US Senate, certain descriptors rise to the surface: interventionism, growth of federal government; increasing regulations, increased taxation, increased bureaucracy, war, imperialism, defense industry growth, police state growth, and diminished state sovereignty to name a few. All of these descriptors apply accurately to Dick Lugar and  it becomes even more evident as we look at the fate of our nation over the last 30 years. The Tea Party in Indiana knows this, as well as most rank and file Republicans.

The Seventeenth Summary 03-11-2011 PM

GOP tries to recruit MSNBC's Joe Scarborough for Senate
USA Today
The Republican charged with trying to win control of the US Senate is reportedly trying to convince MSNBC's Joe Scarborough to run in Florida against Democrat Bill Nelson. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the National ...

Google: May Face Senate Investigation
By Matt Rosoff
Senator Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat, is the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights. Today, he released his 2011 agenda for the subcommittee, and Google is on the list. ...

Comment: This is somewhat humorous when you consider the fact that Google is in bed with the defense and intelligence community.

Senate Panel Probes Massive Growth At Tiny Iowa College
By The Huffington Post News Editors
In a wide-ranging hearing on Thursday, a Senate panel set its sights on the tremendous growth of a tiny Iowa college that has become one of the nation's largest for-profit universities in just six years. Ashford University ...

Comment: This article typifies the maligned relationship the federal government has created with higher learning institutions and why to cost for college continues to skyrocket. Additionally, there is nothing in the US Constitution that remotely allows for federal student loans and federal government oversight through a “department” to regulate education in this country.

US Senate votes in Cogburn as federal judge
Asheville Citizen-Times
The US Senate voted Thursday to confirm Max Cogburn Jr. as a federal judge nine months after the Buncombe County native was nominated by President Barack Obama for the lifetime appointment. The vote was 96-0 in favor of Cogburn, ...

US Senator McCain tells Netanyahu he supports release of Jonathan Pollard
Ha'aretz
The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that until now, McCain was one of the most ardent opponents in the US senate of Pollard's release, but now the US senator has pledged his support for the move.

Comment: Here’s a great example of how McCain regularly sells out America: Pollard stole US military secrets for Israel, and as a result he should pay the price and serve the sentence.

Senator Durbin blasts card firms, banks on debit fees
Reuters
2 Democrat in the US Senate, on Thursday lashed out at debit card networks and big banks that he said are working to delay and gut rules he wrote to slash debit card fees. "It's one of the most active lobbying efforts I've ever seen," said Durbin, ...

U.S. Senate bill aims to give craft brewers a tax break » Grizzly ...
By Matt Pritchard
U.S. Senate bill aims to give craft brewers a tax break. From the Associated Press: BOSTON – Sen. John Kerry is renewing his push to give the country's 1600 small beer makers a tax break. The Massachusetts Democrat on Wednesday filed ...

Comment: Again we see the sheer stupidity and ignorance of Congress. Taxes are harming EVERY business in America, not just a minuscule number of micro-breweries. If this knucklehead Kerry would like to make huge difference in the lives of every American and US based businesses he would stop the unnecessary spending and reduce taxation across the board.

Google, Comcast-NBC merger could face antitrust hearings from US ...
By Molly McHugh
The US Senate will investigate Google's role in the e-commerce world, as well as take a look into whether or...

Belmont Club » Changing the Way Things Are Run
By Richard Fernandez
I agree that we need a Constitutional Amendment under Article V, which will limit Federal taxation to 10% and require a balanced budget. The amendment should also revoke the 17th amendment, require term limits for Congress and the ...

Gold, silver currency bill dies for lack of motion - Eye On Boise ...
First of all the legislators kill the unconstitutional Nullification Bill, then they don't pass on the dumb anti-17th Amendment Bill and won't even generate a motion on an idiotic Goldbug bill. At this rate, they won't get around to ...

LETTER: It's time to repeal the 17th amendment
I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal regarding the 17th Amendment, and then began reading "Lies the Government Told You" by Andrew ...