The Seventeenth Summary 04-12-2011 PM

US Senate takes a look at "fracking" in MD
Baltimore Sun (blog)
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a hearing on the public health and environmental impacts of the controversial drilling technique. Sen. Benjamin Cardin, a Maryland Democrat, is joining Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California ...

Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood scheduled for Thursday ...
By Ed Morrissey
It's not the first time that an effort to defund Planned Parenthood has come to the Senate floor. Louisiana's David Vitter tried in 2007 to strip funding to the nation's largest abortion provider, but lost on a 41-52 vote. ...

Senate Armed Services GOP gets on Twitter - The Hill's Twitter Room
By jordan.fabian@thehill.com (Jordan Fabian)
The Senate's most popular tweeter is getting his committee on Twitter. The Senate Armed Services Committee Republicans, led Ranking Member John McCain ( Ariz.

Comment: John McCain makes war fun through Twitter boys and girls!

US Senator: Belarus Shouldn't Host World Hockey
RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty
Senator Dick Durbin, assistant leader of the Senate's majority Democrats, says in a letter to the International Ice Hockey Federation that the 2014 championship should not be held in Minsk until Lukashenka "releases all the country's political ...

Comment: Durbin is one of 100 reasons to repeal the 17^th Amendment!

Senator Gillibrand talks budget crisis
CU Columbia Spectator
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand called on students get involved in public policy to fix problems like the ones currently facing state budgets in a speech on campus Monday. By Jackie Carrero Just days after a national government shutdown was averted, ...

Senator Schumer Pushes for Tougher Prescription Pill Laws
WKBW-TV
Today, at Tile Pharmacy in Cheektowaga, US Senator Charles Schumer announced his plan to crack down on prescription drug theft that is fueling an unprecedented spike in drug abuse in Buffalo and Western NY. ...

Comment: I predict even more federal law enforcement activity within the state and local law enforcement purview under the guise of this abhorrent “war on drugs.”

Senate Republicans Threatening To Make Harry Reid And Dems Go It Alone On ...
Huffington Post
But a little is not none: Senate Republicans could threaten to withhold support for raising it and force Democrats to pass it on a straight party line vote. One member of the Senate GOP leadership signaled this is the way the party might go. ...

Did Senate GOP doom EPA riders?
Politico
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may have played a starring role in ensuring a last-minute spending deal didn't include controversial environmental riders. By insisting on a Senate floor ...

Lugar raises $1M in 3 months for Senate campaign
Indianapolis Star
22 Senate candidates are required to mail their campaign disclosure reports for the first quarter to the Federal Election Commission by Friday. Lugar reported raising $973853 and having $3 million in the bank at the end of March, according to the ...

NRA-ILA :: Grassley says emails suggest BATFE blocking Senate gun ...
Grassley says emails suggest BATFE blocking Senate gun probe. In a letter Friday to ATF Acting Director Kenneth E. Melson, Sen. Charles E. Grassley said emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act "appear to contain proposed ...

Schumer: Senate Will 'Never, Never, Never' Defund Planned ...
Schumer vowed yesterday that the provision to defund Planned Parenthood that passed the House earlier this year is “never, never, never going to pass the Senate ...
www.infowars.com/schumer-senate-will-‘never-never-never’-...

McCotter: Don't blame Boehner, blame the intransigent Democrats ...
By The Right Scoop
If we are serious about changing and fixing the culture of corruption, political party bickering, tax and spend attitude that brought us this unbalanced budget crisis in DC just repeal the 17th Amendment and put the power of the Senate ...

The Seventeenth Summary 04-1-2011 AM

Senator Rockefeller Calls for Temporary Moratorium On EPA Regulation
WDTV
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D, WV) spoke out Thursday in support of his amendment that would take the Environmental Protection Agency to task by placing a two-year moratorium on its regulation of greenhouse gases. Rockefeller said it's important to our ...

Comment: "A two-year moratorium," will someone wake these idiots up and let them know this "green house problem" is complete horse crap! American's need to show some backbone and demand the Government Class de-fund and them close this BS of an agency down before it strangles what business we have remaining in this country.

US senator: Libya rebels must turn over Lockerbie bomber
AFP
Libya's rebels must pledge to hand the Lockerbie bomber over to US custody in return for any long-term US recognition as their country's legitimate government, a US senator said Thursday. Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer urged US ...

Comment: This should justify the billions of dollars we spending daily on this unconstitutional war…
"On to battle Comrades...Remember the Lockerbie!"

Senator Reid, Let's Compare Radicals Shall We?
Big Government
The feminine pitch of Senator Reid's voice not withstanding, in the context of the heavily documented death threats and vandalism recently committed by Progressive Democrat radicals in Wisconsin, calling Tea Partiers radical betrays ...

Watch Out, Law Schools: A United States Senator Wants You To Stop Lying
Above the Law
Today, US Senator Barbara Boxer called out the American Bar Association and asked the ABA to require law schools to provide accurate post-graduate employment and salary information about their former students. And so now the movement to ...

Why Obama Was Never the Most Liberal Senator in the United States ...
By inoljt
A common charge of Republicans during the 2008 presidential campaign was at Senator Barack Obama's perceived liberalism. Republicans often stated that Mr. Obama was the most liberal senator in the United States, according to a ranking ...

Senator Dianne Feinstein: Missiles won't do it so … it's time we ...
I wish I were kidding with this headline, but I am not. The Senator from California knows air raids won't cut it. So far so good. So she believes it's time we.

Jay Hancock's blog: Senator: Why did the Fed bail out Gadhafi ...
By Jay Hancock
Senator: Why did the Fed bail out Gadhafi? Under pressure and litigation from Bloomberg News, the Fed has released the names of thousands of banking companies that lined up at its discount window during the financial crisis to take out ...

Let us now return to the (corrupt) past
Daily Astorian
One of the more curious causes embraced by some Republicans is the drive to repeal the 17th Amendment. That addition to the Constitution, adopted in 1913, created the direct election of US senators. The Constitution had prescribed that senators would ...

Lots of Talk, But Shutdown Still Looming
Fox News
House Republicans and Senate Democrats are said to be closing in on a deal to cut less than 2 percent – about $32 billion -- from the projected $1.65 trillion deficit for the current fiscal year. The deal is being driven by the deepening understanding ...

Sen. Marco Rubio: Removing Gadhafi in 'national interest'
USA Today
Marco Rubio calls on Senate leaders to authorize President Obama's use of military force in Libya with the goal of ousting Moammar Gadhafi. Rubio's request was reported today by The Weekly Standard, which obtained a copy of the Florida Republican's ...

Comment: The more Rubio talks the more he reveals his statist and globalist perspectives. Rubio is a complete lie, and Florida Tea Party, libertarians and Conservatives were seriously hoodwinked. He is a complete shill!  

Senate to vote on EPA amendments today « The Greenroom
By Bruce McQuain
There's a bill in the Senate right now that will prevent the EPA from usurping those powers and imposing those regulations. It's the Inhofe-Upton Energy Tax Prevention Act (S. 482). It is also known as the McConnell amendment. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

The Seventeenth Summary 03-10-2011 PM

Key Members of US Senate Urge Faster Action On Trade Deals

Voice of America
Key Republicans and Democrats in the US Senate jointly scolded the top Obama administration trade official Wednesday for not moving faster to get approval of some long-stalled trade agreements. Trade supporters want deals sent to Congress ...

US Senate kills competing spending cut bills
Reuters
The US Senate defeated a pair of spending-cut bills on Wednesday -- a Republican plan for nearly $60 billion in reductions and a far smaller Democratic alternative -- increasing pressure on both sides to ...

US Senate overwhelmingly passes historic America Invents Act
The Pharma Letter
The US Senate on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly - by a vote of 95 to five - to approve legislation to make the first reforms to the nation's patent system in nearly six decades. The America Invents Act (S 23) is the product of nearly six years of debate ...

Honeywell Board of Directors Nominates Former U.S. Senator Judd Gregg to Stand ...
PR Newswire (press release)
Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that its Board of Directors has nominated former US Senator... from New Hampshire Judd Gregg, 64, to stand for election as a Director at the company's 2011 Annual

Bingaman And Udall Introduce "Katie's Law" In the US Senate
KRWG 90.7
The Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2011, cosponsored in the Senate by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), incentivizes states to expand efforts to collect DNA from individuals arrested or charged with ...

Energy provisions again help derail US government spending plan
Platts
The US Senate voted down two so-called "continuing resolutions" that would have kept the US Department of Energy and other federal agencies operating until September 30, the last day of fiscal 2011. The government is currently operating on a short-term ...

The Seventeenth Summary 03-09-2011 PM

US Senate To Vote On Fiscal 2011 Budget Wed Afternoon
Wall Street Journal
The US Senate is expected to hold votes Wednesday on competing budget plans to fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year in a largely political move that ...

US Senate backs patent reform to cut backlog
Reuters
The US Senate voted overwhelmingly to overhaul US patent laws, backing a measure aimed at chipping away at a huge backlog of patent applications and offering cheaper alternatives to ...

Arpaio still in US Senate mix
Bizjournals.com
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is still interested in running for US Senate next year. The Republican sheriff had made comments at a Tea Party Convention in Phoenix earlier this month sounding like he wasn't running for the Senate seat being ...

Virginia Democrats await Kaine's decision on US Senate race
WDBJ7.com
Since Senator Jim Webb announced he would not run for re-election, many Virginia Democrats have been urging former Governor Tim Kaine to enter the race. They could have their answer soon. While some were pushing other possibilities, including former ...

Republican Shelby roughs up Fed nominee Diamond
Reuters
The top Republican on the US Senate banking panel on Tuesday made clear he still opposes Federal Reserve nominee Peter Diamond, calling him an "old-fashioned" Keynesian supporter of big government. ...

Anti-bullying bill introduced in US Senate
Dallas Voice
Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, along with 17 other co-sponsors today introduced the Safe Schools Improvement Act. According to a press release from the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the bill is the first time a Senate bill with ...

US Senate Near Bill to Delay Swipe Fee Rules
Wall Street Pit
A bipartisan group of US senators is drafting legislation that would delay the implementation of debit-card “swipe” fee rules, reports Bloomberg. According to two Senate aides with knowledge of the plan, ...

US Senator Kerry hails Serbia-Kosovo talks
AFP
Senior US Senator John Kerry on Tuesday welcomed the announcement that Serbia and Kosovo will hold high-level direct talks for the first time since Kosovo declared independence in 2008. "This day was not inevitable and officials from both ...

The Seventeenth Summary 03-08-2011 AM

US Senate passes procedural vote on patent reform
Reuters
Proponents of a White House-backed bill to overhaul US patent laws won a key test vote in the Senate on Monday, moving the measure toward anticipated passage this week. The measure makes major changes to ...

US Senate must act first on debit card fees-Bachus
Reuters
Republicans in the US House of Representatives will not try to stall or change a crackdown on debit card fees unless the Senate supports changing the law, House Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus ...

ICE Appoints Ex-US Senator
Emii.com
Gregg was most recently serving as the Senator from the State of New Hampshire for three terms, completing his service in January. In 2005, he chaired the US Senate Committee on Budget, and served on the Congressional Oversight Panel supervising the ...

Reaction to US Sen. John Ensign's decision not to seek re-election
Reno Gazette-Journal
Ensign called me this morning to inform me of his decision not to seek re-election to the United States Senate. I appreciate Sen. Ensign's years of service to Nevada as a member of Congress and in the US Senate, and I respect the decision he and his ...

US Congressional Cuts May Hammer Housing-Bond Ratings: Moody's
Wall Street Journal
Public Housing Authority bonds could be in for a shock if the US Senate approves House-passed legislation proposing a 42.9% reduction from their 2010 funding level, Moody's Investors ...

Senate Vote Will Advance Budget Talks, Barely
The Epoch Times
US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (L) listens as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) (R) speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol on March 2, in Washington. The Senate passed a short-term spending ...

US Senate Briefing & Floor Schedule, 3/7/11 | Liberty Pundits Blog
By Clyde Middleton
On Friday, Senate Democrats released their spending proposal for the rest of the current fiscal year, offering only $6.5 billion in cuts from the current.

The Seventeenth Summary 03-07-2011 AM

Bill Theobald: Partisan divide moves TN senators to left
The Tennessean
Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker are not among the most conservative members of the US Senate, according to an analysis of votes in 2010 by the National Journal. Well, the finding shows what may be vulnerability for the two as Alexander seeks to advance ...

McClure remembered as US senator with common touch | The ...
By The Associated Press
Former U.S. Sen. James McClure was remembered Saturday for his compassion for the underdog, his frugality, his love for family and the University of Idaho, and for his constant curiosity about life. "He literally walked with presidents ...

Senate Bill Would Lift Wolf Protections in MT, ID | Flathead Beacon
By Matthew Brown, Associated Press
BILLINGS – Gray wolves in Montana and Idaho would lose their Endangered Species Act protections and become fair game for hunters under a provision buried deep in a U.S. Senate budget bill introduced Friday. The provision was included in ...

GOP takeover prospects in the senate brighten
American Thinker (blog)
The 2012 senate arithmetic alone represents a challenge to Democrats to hold on to the upper chamber. But in the last 5 weeks, several Democrats have announced that they plan to retire, making what was a fighting chance for a GOP senate takeover into a ...

Red State: 'Coiffed' Haridopolos should quit Senate race | Naked ...
By Marc Caputo
One of the most influential voices in Republican media, Erick Erickson, displays on his site's front page a savage piece taking aim at Florida Senate President/ U.S. Senate candidate Mike Haridopolos. From his hair to his job to his ...

Ingo Bischoff on Real Bills and Why They Are Not Inflationary
Right Side News
A return to a commercial banking system employing the Real Bills Doctrine will require the repeal of the 17th Amendment, yet the Congress is unlikely to ...

Tea Party causing problems for GOP
Eastern Echo
Because it's only wingnuts who say they give all due deference to the Constitution and then propose repealing the 17th Amendment (the direct election of US ...

US Senate panel to hold hearing on Vt. branding
WCAX
Senator Patrick Leahy is bringing a US Senate panel to Colchester Monday to hold hearings on ways to promote and protect the Vermont brand. From Maple syrup to cheddar cheese, protecting the state's brand has long been a top priority for state ...

US Senate unanimously call for no-fly zone over Libya
Examiner.com
Despite the wise warnings from Secretary Of Defense Robert Gates about the real implications of imposing a no-fly zone over the embattled nation of Libya, the US Senate unanimously endorsed a the creation of a “no fly” zone over Libya to support ...

Federal bill would fund expansion of Sussex runway
The News Journal
In the short term, the Air Transport Modernization and Safety Improvement Act, which passed the US Senate last month, will include funding for a 500-foot runway expansion at the airport. But a fuel tax increase in the bill also means the Federal ...

U.S. may tap oil reserves as gas prices rise | Chicago Breaking ...
By Reuters
“If necessary, those reserves could be mobilized to help mitigate the effect of a severe, sustained supply disruption,” Geithner told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But there has been growing support among Senate Democrats ...

The Seventeenth Summary 03-04-2011 PM

How Do We Check Runaway National Power?
American Thinker
Some recommend a constitutional amendment to give states veto power over federal law. Others propose repealing the 17th Amendment, so state legislatures will once again elect US Senators. And most want a balanced budget amendment. What's going on here? ...

Geithner plays down oil supply risks
Reuters
In wide-ranging testimony before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Geithner again tweaked China for keeping its currency too low and assured lawmakers he was committed to expanding US overseas trade while playing down risks that oil prices ...

Comment: Remove the word “Geithner” and insert "Goldman-Sachs."

Rockefeller asks Obama to tap US petroleum reserve
Reuters
US oil prices slipped from near 2-1/2-year highs on Thursday to $101.91 a barrel, down 32 cents, as traders took profits. Fellow Democrat Jeff Bingaman, the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called on the administration on ...

US Senate OKs amendment to add patent offices
Bizjournals.com
... to create three or more regional satellite patent offices across the country in the next three years under an amendment added Wednesday to the America Invents Act, a patent reform measure before the US Senate, the Denver Business Journal reports. ...

AFR, PIRG, Durbin Call for Senate to Protect Wall Street Reform ...
By EdMierzwinski
We joined U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), the original sponsor of the legislation that then became the landmark Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a news conference yesterday calling for the Senate to reject the House proposal to ...

DeMint shows new clout in threat to obstruct Senate business
MiamiHerald.com
 A bloc of Senate conservatives, led by South Carolina's Jim DeMint, flexed their muscles Thursday, pledging to block any bill they alone deem wasteful or unconstitutional. Seven other GOP senators joined DeMint's effort, ...

Senate Republicans Push To Oust Medicare Chief
By The Huffington Post News Editors
Unable to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law, Republicans are trying to oust the official who is quarterbacking the overhaul of the nation's medical system. In a letter released Thursday, 42 Republican senators ...

The Seventeenth Summary 03-03-2011 AM

House dumps 17th Amendment repeal measure that cited 'pettifoggery'
The Spokesman Review
Pete Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, proposed a resolution to repeal the 17th Amendment to the US Constitution this morning that was so wildly worded that the ...

Reid, Boehner Exchange Barbs Over Stopgap Measure
Fox News
The Senate on Wednesday passed a stopgap measure to keep government from shutting down, but Congress' unified effort to beat a Friday deadline belied a tense and personal exchange between House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ...

Comment: Wow…barbs are flying; scary. Do they really think those of us outside the beltway really believe there is any type of differing opinions in the Capital. It’s all one party and really one “house” in Congress.

Obama: Ongoing Shutdown Threats 'Not Responsible'
GovExec.com (blog)
With the Senate clearing a bill that averts a government shutdown (for now), President Obama Wednesday called for immediate high-level negotiations to nail down the fiscal 2011 federal budget once and for ...

Senate passes Libya resolution
Washington Post (blog)
The Senate passed Tuesday a resolution calling for the resignation of Moammar Gaddafi as well as new steps against the Libyan leader, including the possible establishment of a no-fly zone over Libyan territory. ...

Comment: And here begins the first step to sending our country into another war.

Senate passes bill blocking congressional pay in event of a ...
By lauraklairmont
Washington (CNN) - Congress just got one more incentive to find a compromise over government spending before the standoff leads to a government shutdown.

Senate Dems to OK two-week CR with $4 billion in cuts. What ...
By Mark Tapscott
Looks like that two-week, stop-gap Continuing Resolution containing $4 billion in spending cuts will be adopted by the Senate this morning. This is the same CR that passed the House earlier this week on a 335-91 vote that included ays ...

US Senate urges no-fly zone for Libya - ASDNews
The US Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution urging the world to consider imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and condemning Moamer Kadhafi's ….

Comment: …and the second step marching us toward another war, is the “no-fly zone;” and yet America is sinking in $14.5 Trillion in debt, jobs down the toilet, states sinking under massive debt as well, and these internationalist clowns in the US Senate want to expand the war into Libya. This is freaking madness.