House/Senate Action: Weeks of 1/13/14-1/26/14
The House will be in session Monday through Wednesday of next week.
The Senate will be in session Monday through Thursday of next week.
CALENDAR NOTES:
The President’s State of the Union Address will take place Tuesday evening at 9 PM. The House Republican retreat in Cambridge, Maryland will begin place the following day.
House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington – the
highest-ranking Republican woman in the Congress – will deliver the official Republican response to the President’s State of the Union address.
As he did last year, Sen. Rand Paul will offer his own response, via YouTube and other social media channels. And Sen. Mike Lee will offer a Tea Party response, sponsored by Tea Party Express.
Note: In recent weeks, we've heard a lot about the content of the President’s address, with much speculation indicating that he would again focus on income inequality. But in the last few days, the White House has been leaking information suggesting that because polling by outside allies shows that “income inequality” leads too many people to think he’s really talking about income redistribution (which he is), the language has been tweaked, and instead he’ll talk about “expanding ladders of opportunity,” which is language right out of the old Jack Kemp/Ronald Reagan playbook.
REVIEW:
The House took up and passed H.R. 3362, the “Exchange Information and Disclosure Act,” requiring the Administration to provide regularly weekly updates on the status of the ObamaCare rollout. The measure passed by a vote of 259-154, with 33 Democrats joining 226 Republicans in support.
As we predicted two weeks ago, Senate Republicans – including the six who voted to proceed to consideration of the extension of emergency unemployment benefits – held firm in insisting that the $6.4 billion measure be paid for realistically. (You may recall, Majority Leader Harry Reid had offered to “pay for” the me asure by extending the Sequester for two more years – a joke of a “pay for” that the Senate GOP immediately rejected.) So far, there’s been no further movement.
DEBT CEILING:
As per the October agreement that reopened the federal government, the debt ceiling was suspended until February 7. That’s less than two weeks from now.
In the past, the Treasury has employed what it calls “extraordinary measures” to continue paying federal bills beyond the reaching of the national debt limit. In some cases, this ability has extended for literally months, and early projections this time around indicated that Treasury would be able to use these cash-management gimmicks to buy time through late spring – possibly as late as May or even early June. But February is typically a heavy deficit-spending month, as tax refunds are sent out by the Treasury, so Treasury Secretary Jack Lew sent a letter to the Hill last Wednesday informing Congress that Treasury’s ability to use these “extraordinary measures” to continue paying federals bills will run out by the end of February, and, therefore, Congress must take action early next month. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell – no doubt influenced by the fact that he faces a competitive
primary challenge from his right in his reelection campaign – appeared on FOX News Sunday this morning to reiterate his insistence that any debt ceiling increase also include policy riders.
Meanwhile, House Republicans – led by Speaker Boehner – are on the same page, and continue to search for consensus in the House GOP Conference as to what those policy riders might be. Among the possibilities: repealing the “risk corridor” provisions in ObamaCare, to ensure that taxpayers are not stuck with the bill for a massive bailout of health insurance companies; approval of the Keystone XL pipeline; and repealing the medical device tax in ObamaCare.
BUDGET:
The White House announced on Thursday that it would release the President’s budget proposal on March 4, roughly a month later than the February 9 deadline required under law. It attributed the delay to the December budget deal. News reports indicate his budget will propose higher taxes on wealthy Americans, and more spending on infrastructure and early education programs.
Meanwhile, there’s been some talk on Capitol Hill that Republicans in the House may decide not to propose and consider a budget for FY2015 at all. Near as I can tell, it’s coming from operatives at the National Republican Congressional Committee and associated consultants, who seem to think that taking votes on a GOP budget is unnecessary (since the budget deal concluded in December includes top-line spending guidelines for FY2015 already), so why risk giving Democrats campaign fodder?
Nevertheless, top House Republicans – including Speaker Boehner and Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan – indicate that they plan to move a budget, as the law requires.
OBAMACARE:
Week before last, a study by McKinsey & Co. revealed that the ObamaCare exchanges had made little progress in actually extending insurance to those who had previously been uninsured. In fact, according to the study, of the roughly 2.2 million people who had signed up for insurance on the federal and state exchanges through the end of December, only 11 percent had been previously uninsured. Those who failed to use the exchanges to enroll cited two big reasons – the high cost of insurance premiums (cited by 52%), and the difficulty of navigating the web sites (cited by 30%).
That same week, Gary Cohen, the director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at HHS, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations that the back end of Healthcare.gov is still under construction, and he refused to pin down an estimated completion date. The “back end” is the automated system that sends payments to insurance companies after someone enrolls on one of the exchange web sites. Without this information, the insurance companies literally have no idea who’s enrolled, and who gets a subsidy. They’re flying blind.
Documents released by HHS last week show just how serious a problem this is – to justify firing CGI Federal (the main contractor on Healthcare.gov) and awarding the contract on a sole-source basis to Accenture, HHS revealed that they believe this problem puts “the entire health insurance industry at risk” … “potentially leading to their default and disrupting continued services and coverage to consumers.” Then the memo went even further, saying that if the problem isn’t fixed by mid-March, “they will result in financial harm to the government,” and went on to add that without the necessary fixes, “the entire health care reform program is jeopardized.”
Also that same week, Speaker Boehner announced that House Republicans would offer – and possibly vote on – a replacement for ObamaCare. That promises to be one of the main topics of conversation at the House Retreat that begins Wednesday.
Support for an alternative comes, generally, from the conservatives in the House GOP Conference, who want an issue agenda to run on, not just something to run against. And, as virtually always happens, the GOP consultant class, whose thinking generally runs along the lines of, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” opposes them. These consultants see a continued bad economy and a continued disastrous rollout for ObamaCare as their tickets to victory in the 2014 midterm elections, and they seek to minimize opportunities for the Democrats to turn things around.
IMMIGRATION:
As we discussed in our call two weeks ago, House Republican leaders have begun quietly circulating a set of principles on immigration reform that includes a proposal to offer legal status to illegal immigrants. Their thinking is simple – no one believes you can round up and deport 11 million illegal immigrants, so we’ve got to find a way to create a legal status for them short of citizenship.
We expect the one-page document will be released at the House GOP Retreat later this week.
The new principles will envision a legal process by which illegal immigrants can admit guilt and pay fines and any back taxes, and then gain the right to live and work in the U.S. and travel abroad. It will insist that no legalization provisions take effect until border security and other enforcement measures are in place, sources familiar with the draft said.
Unlike under the Senate bill, they will not automatically qualify for citizenship – what critics call a
"special path." But legislation being crafted by Republican lawmakers, apparently with the support of House leaders, would let newly legalized immigrants apply for legal permanent residence, also known as a green card, using the pathways available to anyone else. And here’s the problem for us – once someone has a green card, he or she is eligible to apply for citizenship.
Some House conservatives are planning to introduce their own alternative immigration proposal, which will focus on enforcement of current laws and providing economic assistance to unemployed citizens before providing legal status to illegal immigrants. The alternatives being circulated properly take note of the fact that the White House- and Senate-approved legislation isn’t problematic just because it creates an amnesty for the illegal immigrants who are already here, but it drastically increases the number of foreign unskilled guest workers who could be imported, which would depress wages across the board.
On Thursday, 15 of these conservative House Republicans met with Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama to discuss ways to block the House GOP Leadership’s efforts.
As a reminder, Tea Party Patriots put our own principles for immigration reform last summer. They can be found by clicking on this link. Stay tuned as this plays out.
Showing posts with label Sen. Harry Reid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sen. Harry Reid. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Senate Democrats Block Amendment to Restore Military Pensions
The Washington
Free Beacon, by Elizabeth Harrington, January 10, 2014
Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican attempt to
restore military pensions cut in last month’s budget deal, denying a vote that
would save up to $20 billion by closing a loophole that allows tax refunds to
go to illegal aliens.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) called an effort by Sen.
Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.) to repeal the military retiree cuts “fiddling while Rome burns.”
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) “filled the amendment
tree” on Thursday, ending debate and blocking any Republican amendments to a
bill to extend unemployment insurance (UI) benefits.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Gun Filibuster Thwarted, Debate Just Beginning
“The hard work starts now,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid just declared.
The most important vote in Congress so far this year for President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda was relatively anticlimactic. The Senate voted just a few minutes ago, 68-31, to overcome the filibuster launched to prevent any discussion at all of gun control legislation, well more than the 60 votes required because more than one-third of Republicans broke with the party mainstream and supported at least having a full debate.
The 16 Republicans who voted to break the filibuster were Sens. Lamar Alexander, Kelly Ayotte, Richard M. Burr, Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller, John Hoeven, Johnny Isakson, Mark S. Kirk, John McCain, Patrick J. Toomey and Roger Wicker.
Sens. Mark Begich and Mark Pryor, both of whom are seeking re-election next year in Republican-leaning states, were the two Democrats who wanted to kill the bill in the cradle.
Even before the roll was called, proponents of the most ambitious gun control package possible announced they had an agreement for an even more pivotal vote on Tuesday — on language embodying the bipartisan agreement, unveiled Wednesday, for expanding the reach of required background checks to cover customers at gun shows and online transactions, but not noncommercial sales. Background checks now are required only before sales at the country’s 55,000 licensed gun dealers.
The delay is because, knowing they were going to lose Thursday morning, the conservative orchestrators of the filibuster served notice they would insist on their right to delay the debate another 30 hours before any consideration of amendments could begin.
CONTINUED: http://blogs.rollcall.com/hawkings/gun-bill-thwarted-debate-just-begins/
The most important vote in Congress so far this year for President Barack Obama’s legislative agenda was relatively anticlimactic. The Senate voted just a few minutes ago, 68-31, to overcome the filibuster launched to prevent any discussion at all of gun control legislation, well more than the 60 votes required because more than one-third of Republicans broke with the party mainstream and supported at least having a full debate.
The 16 Republicans who voted to break the filibuster were Sens. Lamar Alexander, Kelly Ayotte, Richard M. Burr, Saxby Chambliss, Tom Coburn, Susan Collins, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Lindsey Graham, Dean Heller, John Hoeven, Johnny Isakson, Mark S. Kirk, John McCain, Patrick J. Toomey and Roger Wicker.
Sens. Mark Begich and Mark Pryor, both of whom are seeking re-election next year in Republican-leaning states, were the two Democrats who wanted to kill the bill in the cradle.
Even before the roll was called, proponents of the most ambitious gun control package possible announced they had an agreement for an even more pivotal vote on Tuesday — on language embodying the bipartisan agreement, unveiled Wednesday, for expanding the reach of required background checks to cover customers at gun shows and online transactions, but not noncommercial sales. Background checks now are required only before sales at the country’s 55,000 licensed gun dealers.
The delay is because, knowing they were going to lose Thursday morning, the conservative orchestrators of the filibuster served notice they would insist on their right to delay the debate another 30 hours before any consideration of amendments could begin.
CONTINUED: http://blogs.rollcall.com/hawkings/gun-bill-thwarted-debate-just-begins/
Friday, May 11, 2012
Senate May Take Up Repeal of ‘Defense of Marriage’ Act
Now that President Obama has out and out stated his support for gay marriage, lots of other Democratic officeholders are coming out of the closet as supportive of various planks in the gay rights agenda. The most recent such person to begin batting for that team is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who announced today that the Senate may take up a bill that would repeal the “Defense of Marriage Act” – one of the landmark pieces of legislation from the Clinton era, and a much loathed one among gay activists.
CONTINUED: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/senate-may-take-up-repeal-of-defense-of-marriage-act/
CONTINUED: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/senate-may-take-up-repeal-of-defense-of-marriage-act/
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
LEGISLATIVE NEWS
Introduced: S. 2237: A bill to provide a temporary income tax credit for increased payroll and extend bonus depreciation for an additional year, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen. Harry Reid [D-NV]: This bill or resolution is in the first stage of the legislative process. It was introduced into Congress on March 26, 2012. Most bills and resolutions are assigned to committees which consider them before they move to the House or Senate as a whole.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2237
Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act - Vote Passed (73-26, 1 Not Voting): This bill would ease reporting and regulatory requirements for small businesses trying to raise capital in order to take the company public. The House passed the bill on March 8, 2012. The Senate adopted an amendment to the bill which will require the House to vote again. It is expected the House will pass the bill this week and send the bill to the president. Sen. Richard Burr voted YES and Sen. Kay Hagan voted YES.
http://capwiz.com/military/issues/votes/?votenum=55&chamber=S&congress=1122
The Clean Water Restoration Act: The Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing And Other News--If you have not seen this legislation: S2122 Defense Of Environment And Property Act of 2012 and HR4171 The Focus Act, please forward and share the information because they help to continue to restrengthen private property rights, restrengthens states rights related to water decisions, repeals language that overcriminalizes individuals and businesses. http://www.weekendmorningbuzz.vacau.com/
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 - Vote Passed (223-181, 4 Present, 23 Not Voting)--The House passed this bill that would eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and cap damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. IPAB was created by the 2010 health care law and is charged with finding savings in Medicare spending. It has no members yet. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill. Rep. Walter Jones voted YES.
http://capwiz.com/military/issues/votes/?votenum=126&chamber=H&congress=1122
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s2237
Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act - Vote Passed (73-26, 1 Not Voting): This bill would ease reporting and regulatory requirements for small businesses trying to raise capital in order to take the company public. The House passed the bill on March 8, 2012. The Senate adopted an amendment to the bill which will require the House to vote again. It is expected the House will pass the bill this week and send the bill to the president. Sen. Richard Burr voted YES and Sen. Kay Hagan voted YES.
http://capwiz.com/military/issues/votes/?votenum=55&chamber=S&congress=1122
The Clean Water Restoration Act: The Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing And Other News--If you have not seen this legislation: S2122 Defense Of Environment And Property Act of 2012 and HR4171 The Focus Act, please forward and share the information because they help to continue to restrengthen private property rights, restrengthens states rights related to water decisions, repeals language that overcriminalizes individuals and businesses. http://www.weekendmorningbuzz.vacau.com/
Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011 - Vote Passed (223-181, 4 Present, 23 Not Voting)--The House passed this bill that would eliminate the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) and cap damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. IPAB was created by the 2010 health care law and is charged with finding savings in Medicare spending. It has no members yet. The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill. Rep. Walter Jones voted YES.
http://capwiz.com/military/issues/votes/?votenum=126&chamber=H&congress=1122
Monday, February 13, 2012
Legislative Update: February 12, 2012
Compliments of Tea Party Patriots!
TPP Legislative Update & Newsletter
February 13, 2012
Passion to Action: There are SO many things going on right now, but you can make a huge difference with the following small actions.
CLASS ACT! Call/email/fax your Senators and ask them to bring the CLASS Act Repeal (HR 1173) up for a vote in the Senate, and tell them to vote YES!
NON-RECESS! While you’re on the phone, ask them what they are planning to do about the President’s unconstitutional non-recess appointments, and tell them you expect them to fight back.
REPEAL! Tell everyone you know about the Road to Repeal Rally in Washington DC on March 24. This is the Saturday before the Supreme Court begins to hear arguments on Obamacare. We need to show the world that Americans still want that law repealed.
Federal Budget
Not so happy Valentines Day: Tuesday, February 14 marks the 1021st day since the Senate has passed a budget. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Obama try to dodge their responsibility in this budget fiasco. They said they had already passed a budget through passing the debt ceiling deal. Everyone knows that’s not accurate. Now they are trying to straight-up lie about what it takes to get a budget passed. On Sunday, the President’s new Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, told the morning news shows that it takes 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate because of the filibuster and the Republican “obstructionist.” THIS IS A BLATANT LIE. As we all learned during the Obamacare debate, the Senate may use the process of reconciliation to pass budgetary items with only 51 votes so that budgets are immune to filibustering. This also doesn’t address the fact that the Democrats had total control of the House, the Senate, and the White House for two years and only managed to pass one budget instead of two.
Obama’s Budget: The President finally released his budget today, and as expected, it would give us deeper deficits, increased spending, bigger government, and higher taxes. Key facts from his budget:
o Spends Too Much:
$47 trillion of government spending over the next decade
Proposes a net increase over current spending projections
o Taxes Too Much:
$1.9 trillion in new taxes
Raises taxes, not to pay down the debt, but to fuel more government
spending
o Borrows Too Much:
Four straight years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits; no plan to reduce the debt
Gross debt at the end of FY22: $25.9 trillion
o Budget Gimmicks & Broken Promises
Overstates new deficit reduction by taking credit for savings already enacted
Exploits discredited budget gimmick by “not spending” nearly $1 trillion that
was never going to be spent
Read more about President Obama’s budget here. And don’t forget, Obama has missed the budget deadline three out of four years. If you’d like to read the President’s one-pager on his budget, click here.
Reports: The RSC puts out a weekly Budget and Spending Task Force report. Check it out here. They also put out a report called “Money Monitors” so be sure to check them both out, as there is good information there.
History of Deficits: Read a paper titled, “A short history of federal deficits and surpluses,” and stay ahead of the spin regarding the budget.
Constitutional Issues
New Website: Please check out a new website called the Intolerable Acts at http://www.theintolerableacts.org/. There you will find resources to fight against the unconstitutional provisions embedded within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). There are a number of states that are fighting back by passing resolutions. You can find templates, etc. on the website to use with your own local and state elected officials.
Still Confused? Are you still confused about NDAA? Click here for a good explanation of why it’s so bad.
Jobs & Economic Growth
Increasing American Competitiveness: Check out Mercatus Center’s research fellows’ testimony to the Senate Committee on Finance on tax reform. Also take a look at their testimony to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce about how government can’t really “create” jobs and what it takes for long-term prosperity.
Green Jobs: The fraud behind the President’s “green jobs” initiatives.
Real Energy Jobs: The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (HR 7) passed through committee and is now moving through the Rules Committee in preparation of bringing it to the floor for a vote. Read more about it here. According to the Speaker & the Republicans, HR 7:
o Removes barriers to job growth by approving the Keystone pipeline rejected
by President Obama, lifting the president’s offshore drilling ban, opening a small
portion of ANWR, and more;
o Eliminates wasteful spending and earmarks, eliminates nearly 70 duplicative
federal transportation programs, and ensures taxpayer dollars are spent on
highways – not ‘beautification’ projects and other non-highway activities;
o Cuts the permitting time in half by speeding up bureaucratic approvals, and
delegates more decision-making authority to where it belongs: individual states, not
Washington; and more.
Note: See below in the summary of what the House is up to this week to read about conservative concerns with HR 7.
Obamacare
Business group states case against health care mandate
Obama appointee muzzled Army chaplains, forbade reading of anti-Obamacare Catholic Archdiocese letter
Obama’s covert war on insurers succeeding
Final rules make a mish-mash of ACO’s
Medicaid bait and switch
Everything you wanted to know about Medicare Premium Support & more here
Obama’s war on religion causes buyer’s remorse Loopholes may cost sick workers their coverage
Supreme Court must consider threat to doctor-patient relationship
Obama’s war on religion: No ceasefire on either side & the statement from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Obamacare mastermind admits premiums to soar
Cuccinelli and Coakley debate on C-SPAN
43 Republican Senators filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court to challenge the individual mandate
Liberty Legal Foundation file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that connects Obamacare with the 1942 precedent of Wickard v. Filburn that allowed for the expansion of the commerce clause
American Action Forum filed two amicus briefs with the Supreme Court that explain how the expansion of Medicaid and the individual mandate render the entire law unconsitutional
CMS refuses to answer question about whether or not seniors can purchase health care with their own money
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has introduced legislation to restore religious freedom to repeal the new Obamacare mandate that was just created by the Health and Human Services – the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012
Democrats abandoning unconstitutional violation of religious liberties
Obama’s fraudulent “accommodation” on mandates for Catholic Church
Obama’s Chief of Staff says there will be no more compromises on mandates
Education
Teacher’s Unions Don’t Care: On the New Jersey Capitol Report this past weekend, New Jersey Education Association Director Vincent Giordano was asked his views on a legislative proposal to offer private scholarships to low-income students who attend public schools judged to be under-performing. Giordano, who according to Newark Star-Ledger earned roughly $422,000 from the union in 2010, said he supported low-income children attending private schools as long as they paid for it themselves. When asked whether that was a practical solution, given their household income, Giordano responded: “Well, you know, life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that.”
Sustainable Development
We must be making a difference: The left now feels obligated make fun of us. In their view, critics MUST be extremists. Read here and here.
UN Treaties: Dick Morris discusses various UN treaties that President Obama’s administration is considering.
Property Rights Council: The Property Rights Council is a group that has formed to be proactive in the fight to protect property rights. So rather than always playing defense, it’s time we started playing offense.
RNC Resolution: The RNC resolution opposing sustainable development is making a big splash. Here’s a taste – ‘Lawson read an excerpt of the resolution: "Whereas, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control that was initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment…”’ Will your legislators sign the RNC Resolution?
From Across the Pond: Please listen to our friends across the pond and the horror of sustainable development as it destroys Europe. Listen here.
Confused about America's Poor Economy? Here is why...
EPA now "regulates" affordable housing: Affordable housing is subsidized housing, and just like with anything else subsidized by the government, this is why these Smart Growth neighborhoods are so expensive. When you seal off the majority of the land from development the remaining land becomes extremely scarce and expensive. Then throw in affordable housing (subsidized housing) which generates no taxes and you have truly unaffordable living standards for those that go to work everyday. Look at CA. This is why it is so expensive to live there and getting worse. People are leaving CA by the truckload.
HR 3864: Legislation in the House that seeks to eliminate dedicated funding for the Mass Transit Account. Mass Transit is a staple of sustainable development so defunding this would be great.
For Local Government Officials: Need help explaining why sustainable development practices are dangerous to property rights? Send this video to your local government officials to educate them.
Petition: Recently President Obama signed an executive order establishing the President's Global Development Council. This Council is tasked with implementing sustainable development programs across the country. You can sign a petition here to ask Speaker Boehner to do something to combat this.
Illegal Immigration
Documentary: TPP North Carolina State Coordinator Mark Hager assisted with the documentary titled, “Invasion: Freedom Under Fire!” about the struggles of American citizens who live along the southern border. If you would like to order a copy, please click here for more information.
Waivermania: Kansas’ Agriculture Secretary is asking the Department of Homeland Security for a waiver so that agricultural businesses in Kansas could hire illegal immigrants. The agriculture businesses and others in the business community are supporting this effort. So far the Obama administration have handed out healthcare waivers and educational waivers. Are illegal immigrant waivers next? When waivers become the law of the land, there is no law.
Alabama Too: The Attorney General in Alabama is trying to get the legislature to gut their new, stricter laws dealing with illegal aliens because he doesn’t want to have to go to court to fight for it. The Chamber of Commerce and the agricultural businesses are also supportive of the attempt to gut the laws.
House of Representatives
*Summary information provided by the RSC
Weekly Wrap Up
Civilian Property Realignment Act — Last week, the House approved H.R. 1734, the Civilian Property Realignment Act, by a vote of 259-164. The Federal government owns more real property than any other entity in America (900,000 buildings). Republicans have long advocated selling the most wasteful of these properties. H.R. 1734 establishes an independent commission known as the Civilian Property Realignment Commission (CPRC) to provide recommendations on civilian federal properties that can be sold, transferred, exchanged, consolidated, or redeveloped, so as to reduce the civilian real property inventory, reduce the operating costs of the government, and create the highest value and return for the taxpayer. Specifically, the CPRC would be required to identify not less than five federal properties that have a total market value of at least $500 million and transmit the list to the president and Congress within 180 days. Once approved by the president, CPRC’s recommendations would be considered in Congress under expedited procedures. Under the bill, the CPRC would sunset six years after enactment. According to CBO, the bill would cost $3 million in FY 2012 and $68 million over the FY 2012 through FY 2017 period. However, H.R. 1734 could result in the sale of at least five high-value federal properties with an estimated total fair market value of at least $500 million, which would fully offset the funding provided in the bill and reduce the deficit by an additional $432 million.
Budget Transparency — Also last week, the House approved H.R. 3581, the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act, by a vote of 245-180. This legislation will require federal credit programs to be accounted for on a fair value accounting basis. This means that federal accounting would have to consider not just the borrowing costs to the federal government, but also the cost of the market risk the federal government is incurring. The purpose of the bill is to bring federal budgeting practices in line with the private-sector in order to paint a more accurate picture of federal finances. Under current law, the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA) requires that the credit subsidy cost of federal direct loans and loan guarantees be measured on a “net present value” basis, which determines the cost of a loan program based on calculations using the interest rates on Treasury securities. However, this calculation ignores additional costs associated with market risks. According the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), “By incorporating a market-based risk premium, fair-value estimates recognize that the financial risk that the government assumes when issuing credit guarantees is more costly to taxpayers than FCRA-based estimates suggest.” By more accurately accounting for the costs of federal credit programs, H.R. 3581 increases the estimated costs of such programs compared to measures used under current law. According to CBO, if fair-value procedures were used to estimate the cost of new credit activity in 2012, the total deficit for the year would be about $55 billion greater than the deficit as measured under current estimating procedures. However, since the legislation would not
change the terms of such credit programs, but would change what is recorded in the budget as the cost of credit assistance, the changes in the estimates of the costs of credit programs would not be scored by CBO as attributable to H.R. 3581.
Line-Item Veto — On Wednesday, the House approved H.R. 3521, the Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act, by a vote of 254-173. H.R. 3521 establishes an expedited procedure for consideration of presidential proposals to rescind certain spending provisions in newly enacted spending legislation. Under the expedited procedure, Congress will be required to consider proposals to rescind specific funding included in spending legislation if the rescission is proposed by the president within 45 days of the spending bill’s enactment. Under the legislation, any savings achieved through these procedures would be used for reducing the deficit or increasing the surplus. The authority of the president to propose rescission packages for expedited consideration established by H.R. 3521 would expire on December 15, 2015. According to CBO, “enacting H.R. 3521, by itself, would not have a significant impact on the federal budget. Any impact on the budget would depend on the extent of the President’s use of the new cancellation procedure and on future Congressional actions.”
STOCK Act — Yesterday, the House approved an amendment to S. 2038, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, by a vote of 417-2. The bill makes clear that Members of Congress, Congressional employees, and executive and judicial branch employees are prohibited from using nonpublic information for private profit. The bill also amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and the Ethics in Government Act and would require the Senate and the House of Representatives to implement an electronic filing system for financial disclosure forms, as well as provide the public with on-line access to that information in a searchable database. In addition, the legislation requires timelier reporting of certain financial transactions by Members of Congress, Congressional employees, and executive and judicial branch officials and employees. The House amendment strengthens the Senate’s STOCK Act, expands the scope of the bill to require more financial disclosures by government employees, and ensures that the law is workable and meets the goal of preventing those who hold public office (and their staff) from profiting from insider information. According to CBO, implementing this legislation would cost $4 million over the 2012-2013 period primarily for new computer hardware and software and additional labor to support the financial disclosure system required under the bill. In addition, maintaining the new system would cost $1 million annually, CBO estimates. In total, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost about $9 million over the 2012-2017 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
The Week Ahead
Transportation Bill — This week, the House may consider H.R. 7, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act would provide a five-year extension of federal highway and transit programs. The bill would eliminate all earmarks from the highway bill. The last surface transportation law approved by Congress in 2005 contained over 6,300 earmarks. The bill would cut red tape and streamline highway funding by consolidating or eliminating nearly 70 highway programs and eliminating mandates that prevent states from funding infrastructure needs. However, there are two main areas that cause serious concern for many conservatives. First, the cost of the legislation. The bill proposes $262 billion in spending over the next five years. This is an increase over the amount of $191.5 billion that was proposed in July and consistent with the House-passed budget. Furthermore, CBO estimates that gas tax revenues will be $193 billion over the next five years. That leaves a funding gap of roughly $70 billion. And while some of that gap may be covered from revenues from increased domestic energy production, many conservatives believe that we should use that revenue to reduce the deficit, not for new spending. The legislation also makes it harder to make the conservative case that road users—through the gas tax—pay the cost of the federal highway program. Second, many conservatives have long argued that the overwhelming majority of transportation programs and spending should be devolved to the states. While there is increased state flexibility in this bill, it falls short of devolution.
Payroll Tax Cut Extension — Also this week, the House may consider legislation relating to H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011. H.R. 3630 was approved in the House on December 13, 2011 by a vote of 234–193. The House-passed version of H.R. 3630 provided an offset one-year extension of the current payroll tax rates, a delay in the implementation of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (the so-called “Doc Fix”), and an extension of reformed Unemployment Insurance benefits. Currently these programs are operating under two-month extension (H.R.3765) set to expire on February 29, 2012.
Senate
The Senate will convened at 2:00 p.m. today and was in Morning Business until 4:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., the Senate began debate on cloture on Executive Calendar #437, Adalberto Jose Jordan, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate should be voting on cloture on the nomination.
Once the Senate completes action on the Jordan nomination, the Senate will pivot back to S.1813, the Highway bill (current extension expires 3/31/12). Currently pending to S.1813 is Reid (for Johnson (SD)/Shelby) amendment #1515 (transit title). They expect the remaining Committee measures (Commerce and Finance) will also be voted on as separate amendments later this week. At this point, it is unclear if they will complete action on the Highway bill this week.
In addition to the Highway bill, other items which are possible for floor action this week include: Payroll Conference Report and/or STOCK Act. The House amended S.2038, the STOCK Act, by a vote of 417 to 2 last week. It is unclear if a Conference Committee will be convened or if Leader Reid will turn to the House passed bill.
Next scheduled Senate and House recess: February 20th – February 24th.
Legislative items which are possible during the next work period include: Cybersecurity; Postal Reform; CLASS Act Repeal (H.R.1173).
Upcoming “No Vote Days” in the Senate: March 5th, March 12th, and March 19th.
Harry Reid resurrects SOPA.
TPP Legislative Update & Newsletter
February 13, 2012
Passion to Action: There are SO many things going on right now, but you can make a huge difference with the following small actions.
CLASS ACT! Call/email/fax your Senators and ask them to bring the CLASS Act Repeal (HR 1173) up for a vote in the Senate, and tell them to vote YES!
NON-RECESS! While you’re on the phone, ask them what they are planning to do about the President’s unconstitutional non-recess appointments, and tell them you expect them to fight back.
REPEAL! Tell everyone you know about the Road to Repeal Rally in Washington DC on March 24. This is the Saturday before the Supreme Court begins to hear arguments on Obamacare. We need to show the world that Americans still want that law repealed.
Federal Budget
Not so happy Valentines Day: Tuesday, February 14 marks the 1021st day since the Senate has passed a budget. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Obama try to dodge their responsibility in this budget fiasco. They said they had already passed a budget through passing the debt ceiling deal. Everyone knows that’s not accurate. Now they are trying to straight-up lie about what it takes to get a budget passed. On Sunday, the President’s new Chief of Staff, Jack Lew, told the morning news shows that it takes 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate because of the filibuster and the Republican “obstructionist.” THIS IS A BLATANT LIE. As we all learned during the Obamacare debate, the Senate may use the process of reconciliation to pass budgetary items with only 51 votes so that budgets are immune to filibustering. This also doesn’t address the fact that the Democrats had total control of the House, the Senate, and the White House for two years and only managed to pass one budget instead of two.
Obama’s Budget: The President finally released his budget today, and as expected, it would give us deeper deficits, increased spending, bigger government, and higher taxes. Key facts from his budget:
o Spends Too Much:
$47 trillion of government spending over the next decade
Proposes a net increase over current spending projections
o Taxes Too Much:
$1.9 trillion in new taxes
Raises taxes, not to pay down the debt, but to fuel more government
spending
o Borrows Too Much:
Four straight years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits; no plan to reduce the debt
Gross debt at the end of FY22: $25.9 trillion
o Budget Gimmicks & Broken Promises
Overstates new deficit reduction by taking credit for savings already enacted
Exploits discredited budget gimmick by “not spending” nearly $1 trillion that
was never going to be spent
Read more about President Obama’s budget here. And don’t forget, Obama has missed the budget deadline three out of four years. If you’d like to read the President’s one-pager on his budget, click here.
Reports: The RSC puts out a weekly Budget and Spending Task Force report. Check it out here. They also put out a report called “Money Monitors” so be sure to check them both out, as there is good information there.
History of Deficits: Read a paper titled, “A short history of federal deficits and surpluses,” and stay ahead of the spin regarding the budget.
Constitutional Issues
New Website: Please check out a new website called the Intolerable Acts at http://www.theintolerableacts.org/. There you will find resources to fight against the unconstitutional provisions embedded within the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). There are a number of states that are fighting back by passing resolutions. You can find templates, etc. on the website to use with your own local and state elected officials.
Still Confused? Are you still confused about NDAA? Click here for a good explanation of why it’s so bad.
Jobs & Economic Growth
Increasing American Competitiveness: Check out Mercatus Center’s research fellows’ testimony to the Senate Committee on Finance on tax reform. Also take a look at their testimony to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce about how government can’t really “create” jobs and what it takes for long-term prosperity.
Green Jobs: The fraud behind the President’s “green jobs” initiatives.
Real Energy Jobs: The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012 (HR 7) passed through committee and is now moving through the Rules Committee in preparation of bringing it to the floor for a vote. Read more about it here. According to the Speaker & the Republicans, HR 7:
o Removes barriers to job growth by approving the Keystone pipeline rejected
by President Obama, lifting the president’s offshore drilling ban, opening a small
portion of ANWR, and more;
o Eliminates wasteful spending and earmarks, eliminates nearly 70 duplicative
federal transportation programs, and ensures taxpayer dollars are spent on
highways – not ‘beautification’ projects and other non-highway activities;
o Cuts the permitting time in half by speeding up bureaucratic approvals, and
delegates more decision-making authority to where it belongs: individual states, not
Washington; and more.
Note: See below in the summary of what the House is up to this week to read about conservative concerns with HR 7.
Obamacare
Business group states case against health care mandate
Obama appointee muzzled Army chaplains, forbade reading of anti-Obamacare Catholic Archdiocese letter
Obama’s covert war on insurers succeeding
Final rules make a mish-mash of ACO’s
Medicaid bait and switch
Everything you wanted to know about Medicare Premium Support & more here
Obama’s war on religion causes buyer’s remorse Loopholes may cost sick workers their coverage
Supreme Court must consider threat to doctor-patient relationship
Obama’s war on religion: No ceasefire on either side & the statement from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Obamacare mastermind admits premiums to soar
Cuccinelli and Coakley debate on C-SPAN
43 Republican Senators filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court to challenge the individual mandate
Liberty Legal Foundation file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that connects Obamacare with the 1942 precedent of Wickard v. Filburn that allowed for the expansion of the commerce clause
American Action Forum filed two amicus briefs with the Supreme Court that explain how the expansion of Medicaid and the individual mandate render the entire law unconsitutional
CMS refuses to answer question about whether or not seniors can purchase health care with their own money
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has introduced legislation to restore religious freedom to repeal the new Obamacare mandate that was just created by the Health and Human Services – the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 2012
Democrats abandoning unconstitutional violation of religious liberties
Obama’s fraudulent “accommodation” on mandates for Catholic Church
Obama’s Chief of Staff says there will be no more compromises on mandates
Education
Teacher’s Unions Don’t Care: On the New Jersey Capitol Report this past weekend, New Jersey Education Association Director Vincent Giordano was asked his views on a legislative proposal to offer private scholarships to low-income students who attend public schools judged to be under-performing. Giordano, who according to Newark Star-Ledger earned roughly $422,000 from the union in 2010, said he supported low-income children attending private schools as long as they paid for it themselves. When asked whether that was a practical solution, given their household income, Giordano responded: “Well, you know, life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that.”
Sustainable Development
We must be making a difference: The left now feels obligated make fun of us. In their view, critics MUST be extremists. Read here and here.
UN Treaties: Dick Morris discusses various UN treaties that President Obama’s administration is considering.
Property Rights Council: The Property Rights Council is a group that has formed to be proactive in the fight to protect property rights. So rather than always playing defense, it’s time we started playing offense.
RNC Resolution: The RNC resolution opposing sustainable development is making a big splash. Here’s a taste – ‘Lawson read an excerpt of the resolution: "Whereas, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control that was initiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment…”’ Will your legislators sign the RNC Resolution?
From Across the Pond: Please listen to our friends across the pond and the horror of sustainable development as it destroys Europe. Listen here.
Confused about America's Poor Economy? Here is why...
EPA now "regulates" affordable housing: Affordable housing is subsidized housing, and just like with anything else subsidized by the government, this is why these Smart Growth neighborhoods are so expensive. When you seal off the majority of the land from development the remaining land becomes extremely scarce and expensive. Then throw in affordable housing (subsidized housing) which generates no taxes and you have truly unaffordable living standards for those that go to work everyday. Look at CA. This is why it is so expensive to live there and getting worse. People are leaving CA by the truckload.
HR 3864: Legislation in the House that seeks to eliminate dedicated funding for the Mass Transit Account. Mass Transit is a staple of sustainable development so defunding this would be great.
For Local Government Officials: Need help explaining why sustainable development practices are dangerous to property rights? Send this video to your local government officials to educate them.
Petition: Recently President Obama signed an executive order establishing the President's Global Development Council. This Council is tasked with implementing sustainable development programs across the country. You can sign a petition here to ask Speaker Boehner to do something to combat this.
Illegal Immigration
Documentary: TPP North Carolina State Coordinator Mark Hager assisted with the documentary titled, “Invasion: Freedom Under Fire!” about the struggles of American citizens who live along the southern border. If you would like to order a copy, please click here for more information.
Waivermania: Kansas’ Agriculture Secretary is asking the Department of Homeland Security for a waiver so that agricultural businesses in Kansas could hire illegal immigrants. The agriculture businesses and others in the business community are supporting this effort. So far the Obama administration have handed out healthcare waivers and educational waivers. Are illegal immigrant waivers next? When waivers become the law of the land, there is no law.
Alabama Too: The Attorney General in Alabama is trying to get the legislature to gut their new, stricter laws dealing with illegal aliens because he doesn’t want to have to go to court to fight for it. The Chamber of Commerce and the agricultural businesses are also supportive of the attempt to gut the laws.
House of Representatives
*Summary information provided by the RSC
Weekly Wrap Up
Civilian Property Realignment Act — Last week, the House approved H.R. 1734, the Civilian Property Realignment Act, by a vote of 259-164. The Federal government owns more real property than any other entity in America (900,000 buildings). Republicans have long advocated selling the most wasteful of these properties. H.R. 1734 establishes an independent commission known as the Civilian Property Realignment Commission (CPRC) to provide recommendations on civilian federal properties that can be sold, transferred, exchanged, consolidated, or redeveloped, so as to reduce the civilian real property inventory, reduce the operating costs of the government, and create the highest value and return for the taxpayer. Specifically, the CPRC would be required to identify not less than five federal properties that have a total market value of at least $500 million and transmit the list to the president and Congress within 180 days. Once approved by the president, CPRC’s recommendations would be considered in Congress under expedited procedures. Under the bill, the CPRC would sunset six years after enactment. According to CBO, the bill would cost $3 million in FY 2012 and $68 million over the FY 2012 through FY 2017 period. However, H.R. 1734 could result in the sale of at least five high-value federal properties with an estimated total fair market value of at least $500 million, which would fully offset the funding provided in the bill and reduce the deficit by an additional $432 million.
Budget Transparency — Also last week, the House approved H.R. 3581, the Budget and Accounting Transparency Act, by a vote of 245-180. This legislation will require federal credit programs to be accounted for on a fair value accounting basis. This means that federal accounting would have to consider not just the borrowing costs to the federal government, but also the cost of the market risk the federal government is incurring. The purpose of the bill is to bring federal budgeting practices in line with the private-sector in order to paint a more accurate picture of federal finances. Under current law, the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (FCRA) requires that the credit subsidy cost of federal direct loans and loan guarantees be measured on a “net present value” basis, which determines the cost of a loan program based on calculations using the interest rates on Treasury securities. However, this calculation ignores additional costs associated with market risks. According the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), “By incorporating a market-based risk premium, fair-value estimates recognize that the financial risk that the government assumes when issuing credit guarantees is more costly to taxpayers than FCRA-based estimates suggest.” By more accurately accounting for the costs of federal credit programs, H.R. 3581 increases the estimated costs of such programs compared to measures used under current law. According to CBO, if fair-value procedures were used to estimate the cost of new credit activity in 2012, the total deficit for the year would be about $55 billion greater than the deficit as measured under current estimating procedures. However, since the legislation would not
change the terms of such credit programs, but would change what is recorded in the budget as the cost of credit assistance, the changes in the estimates of the costs of credit programs would not be scored by CBO as attributable to H.R. 3581.
Line-Item Veto — On Wednesday, the House approved H.R. 3521, the Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act, by a vote of 254-173. H.R. 3521 establishes an expedited procedure for consideration of presidential proposals to rescind certain spending provisions in newly enacted spending legislation. Under the expedited procedure, Congress will be required to consider proposals to rescind specific funding included in spending legislation if the rescission is proposed by the president within 45 days of the spending bill’s enactment. Under the legislation, any savings achieved through these procedures would be used for reducing the deficit or increasing the surplus. The authority of the president to propose rescission packages for expedited consideration established by H.R. 3521 would expire on December 15, 2015. According to CBO, “enacting H.R. 3521, by itself, would not have a significant impact on the federal budget. Any impact on the budget would depend on the extent of the President’s use of the new cancellation procedure and on future Congressional actions.”
STOCK Act — Yesterday, the House approved an amendment to S. 2038, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, by a vote of 417-2. The bill makes clear that Members of Congress, Congressional employees, and executive and judicial branch employees are prohibited from using nonpublic information for private profit. The bill also amends the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 and the Ethics in Government Act and would require the Senate and the House of Representatives to implement an electronic filing system for financial disclosure forms, as well as provide the public with on-line access to that information in a searchable database. In addition, the legislation requires timelier reporting of certain financial transactions by Members of Congress, Congressional employees, and executive and judicial branch officials and employees. The House amendment strengthens the Senate’s STOCK Act, expands the scope of the bill to require more financial disclosures by government employees, and ensures that the law is workable and meets the goal of preventing those who hold public office (and their staff) from profiting from insider information. According to CBO, implementing this legislation would cost $4 million over the 2012-2013 period primarily for new computer hardware and software and additional labor to support the financial disclosure system required under the bill. In addition, maintaining the new system would cost $1 million annually, CBO estimates. In total, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would cost about $9 million over the 2012-2017 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
The Week Ahead
Transportation Bill — This week, the House may consider H.R. 7, the American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act. The American Energy & Infrastructure Jobs Act would provide a five-year extension of federal highway and transit programs. The bill would eliminate all earmarks from the highway bill. The last surface transportation law approved by Congress in 2005 contained over 6,300 earmarks. The bill would cut red tape and streamline highway funding by consolidating or eliminating nearly 70 highway programs and eliminating mandates that prevent states from funding infrastructure needs. However, there are two main areas that cause serious concern for many conservatives. First, the cost of the legislation. The bill proposes $262 billion in spending over the next five years. This is an increase over the amount of $191.5 billion that was proposed in July and consistent with the House-passed budget. Furthermore, CBO estimates that gas tax revenues will be $193 billion over the next five years. That leaves a funding gap of roughly $70 billion. And while some of that gap may be covered from revenues from increased domestic energy production, many conservatives believe that we should use that revenue to reduce the deficit, not for new spending. The legislation also makes it harder to make the conservative case that road users—through the gas tax—pay the cost of the federal highway program. Second, many conservatives have long argued that the overwhelming majority of transportation programs and spending should be devolved to the states. While there is increased state flexibility in this bill, it falls short of devolution.
Payroll Tax Cut Extension — Also this week, the House may consider legislation relating to H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011. H.R. 3630 was approved in the House on December 13, 2011 by a vote of 234–193. The House-passed version of H.R. 3630 provided an offset one-year extension of the current payroll tax rates, a delay in the implementation of the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (the so-called “Doc Fix”), and an extension of reformed Unemployment Insurance benefits. Currently these programs are operating under two-month extension (H.R.3765) set to expire on February 29, 2012.
Senate
The Senate will convened at 2:00 p.m. today and was in Morning Business until 4:30 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., the Senate began debate on cloture on Executive Calendar #437, Adalberto Jose Jordan, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit. At 5:30 p.m., the Senate should be voting on cloture on the nomination.
Once the Senate completes action on the Jordan nomination, the Senate will pivot back to S.1813, the Highway bill (current extension expires 3/31/12). Currently pending to S.1813 is Reid (for Johnson (SD)/Shelby) amendment #1515 (transit title). They expect the remaining Committee measures (Commerce and Finance) will also be voted on as separate amendments later this week. At this point, it is unclear if they will complete action on the Highway bill this week.
In addition to the Highway bill, other items which are possible for floor action this week include: Payroll Conference Report and/or STOCK Act. The House amended S.2038, the STOCK Act, by a vote of 417 to 2 last week. It is unclear if a Conference Committee will be convened or if Leader Reid will turn to the House passed bill.
Next scheduled Senate and House recess: February 20th – February 24th.
Legislative items which are possible during the next work period include: Cybersecurity; Postal Reform; CLASS Act Repeal (H.R.1173).
Upcoming “No Vote Days” in the Senate: March 5th, March 12th, and March 19th.
Harry Reid resurrects SOPA.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
33 Members of Congress Directed Federal Projects within 2 Miles of Own Property
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Sen. Harry Reid Another example (33 to be precise) of why earmarks are a bad idea has come by way of a Washington Post investigation.
After going through congressional records on spending, the newspaper found 33 representatives and senators had directed more than $300 million in earmarks and other spending provisions to public projects located next to or within about two miles of the lawmakers’ personal property.
Among the lucky legislators are:
· Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who brought in $21.5 million to build a bridge over the Colorado River to link the gambling resort of Laughlin, Nevada, with Bullhead City, Arizona, where Reid owns 160 acres of undeveloped land.
· Representative G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina), who obtained $817,500 to revitalize buildings less than three-quarters of a mile from 19 properties he owns.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/33_Members_of_Congress_Directed_Federal_Projects_within_2_Miles_of_Own_Property_120209
Sen. Harry Reid Another example (33 to be precise) of why earmarks are a bad idea has come by way of a Washington Post investigation.
After going through congressional records on spending, the newspaper found 33 representatives and senators had directed more than $300 million in earmarks and other spending provisions to public projects located next to or within about two miles of the lawmakers’ personal property.
Among the lucky legislators are:
· Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), who brought in $21.5 million to build a bridge over the Colorado River to link the gambling resort of Laughlin, Nevada, with Bullhead City, Arizona, where Reid owns 160 acres of undeveloped land.
· Representative G.K. Butterfield (D-North Carolina), who obtained $817,500 to revitalize buildings less than three-quarters of a mile from 19 properties he owns.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/33_Members_of_Congress_Directed_Federal_Projects_within_2_Miles_of_Own_Property_120209
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
TEA PARTY PATRIOTS: 1000 Days Without Doing Their Job!
1000 Days Without a Budget
Today, you MUST call your US Senators and tell them to do their jobs! Why? Because if you don't, who will?
What would happen to you if you failed to do your job for 1000 days? You would lose your job.
In this environment of economic turmoil, how can we let these servants of the people get by without actually serving the people?
What's more, today the President is also slated to give his State of the Union Address. What is the state of our union?
No Budget. No Direction. No Leadership.
Unacceptable!
Click Here to Call Today!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing: On the Brink of Brinkmanship
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Today In Washington
THE SENATE: Convened at 9:30 and is now rejecting two versions of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution — a foregone conclusion ever since the votes were promised as part of the summer debt limit deal. Reid and McConnell are now working behind the scenes (while overtly furious at each other) on the next step in the year-ending tax extenders debate.
A party-line vote was expected to rebuff the Republican proposal, which was to cap spending at 18 percent of gross domestic product, require a two-thirds majority to increase taxes and dictate that spending not exceed revenue in each fiscal year unless supermajorities in Congress voted for deficits during war or other emergencies. The vote a few minutes ago was 21-79 against the Democratic alternative, which had no spending caps or special rules for tax bills (except that cuts for millionaires could only be allowed during times of surplus) and would shield the Social Security trust fund from being tapped to balance the books.
THE HOUSE: Convened at 10 and is expected to be dismissed before 5, after adopting the $662 billion defense authorization conference agreement and voting on as many as 10 bills under the suspension of the rules process.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama is arriving for a 90-minute visit to Fort Bragg, his first as president. At noon he and the first lady will deliver speeches thanking the troops and their families for their sacrifices during the Iraq War and promising that the administration remains committed to providing veterans robust benefits and help securing jobs. (The North Carolina fort — home to the Special Operations command, the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne, among others — says more than 200 soldiers who died in Iraq left from there.)
Obama is due back in the Oval Office by 2, and at 5 he’s headed a few blocks away to the St. Regis Hotel for another re-election fundraiser.
ANOTHER STANDOFF: Shutdown brinkmanship is back. There’s even a decent shot that the two sides will dig in long enough that the current stopgap spending law will be permitted to expire 60 hours from now, which would mean a mad weekend scramble to get something to replace it before the bulk of the federal government reopens for business next Monday — either a very, very short CR or the comprehensive $1 trillion appropriations package that’s essentially written up and ready to go.
The standoff intensified in the Senate this morning, when Reid proposed holding the next symbolic test vote tonight — the one in which the Democratic majority will formally spurn the payroll tax, jobless benefit, “doc fix” and AMT “patch” package pushed through the Republican House yesterday, because it also would speed along construction of the Keystone oil pipeline. McConnell objected, insisting that he’d use all his parliamentary powers to make sure the appropriations “megabus” is done first.
Republicans clearly see a way to seize back the year-end momentum on this front from Obama and the Senate Democrats, who have been holding the better hand for weeks on the question of continuing a tax cut for 160 million people. But now, the Democrats think their opponents have badly overplayed that hand by holding up final action on the spending bill until the GOP relents (or at least comes to the final bargaining table) on the tax package. And that, the Republicans say, makes Democrats vulnerable to the same criticism they have been using against the GOP all year: They’re willing to hold the government hostage, and cause genuine problems for millions of people, until they get what they want.
The longer the megabus package is allowed to sit on the shelf, the more it risks being picked apart around the edges — and it could well fall apart altogether if the votes aren’t called soon. Officially, the text is not out because no Senate Democrats have been allowed to sign on the dotted line at the bottom, but everyone knows it’s a done deal (despite what Reid insists) and more and more people are aware of the thousands of line-item details every hour. If the old legislative adage is that a compromise, like an unrefrigerated fish, starts to rot after three days, then this is Day Two.
AGAINST THE GRAIN: The 10 House Democrats who voted for the extenders bill last night bill were Barrow, Boren, Boswell, Braley, Cardoza, Donnelly, Loebsack, Matheson, Ross and Walz. The 14 Republicans who voted “no” were Amash, Barton, Brooks, Campbell, Flake, Fortenberry, Garrett, Tim Johnson, Lummis, McClintock, McKinley, Neugebauer, Wolf and Woodall.
SAVE THE DATE: Obama will deliver his next State of the Union address the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 24 — one day after the Senate returns from the coming break, and one week after the House reconvenes to start the second session of the 112th Congress.
DOWN IN THE POLL: Only 22 percent say the nation is headed in the right direction, according to the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll out today, while 42 percent say the performance of the current Congress is “one of the worst” ever —the highest number ever recorded on a question that’s been asked since 1990. Obama’s job-approval rating is at 46 percent, 2 points better than a month ago.
The poll’s numbers in the GOP presidential race, meanwhile, show Newt Gingrich leading Mitt Romney by 17 points among Republican voters nationwide — and by 23 points if all the other candidates are excluded. The reason seems clear: Only 29 percent view Romney as “conservative,” while 59 percent give Gingrich that label. But when the surveyors asked about general election matchups, they found Obama defeating the former Speaker by 11 points among all registered voters but in a statistical tie with the former Massachusetts governor. That apparent electability gap is what has so many Republican congressional strategists worried: They fret that Gingrich at the top of the could do the party serious damage in close races for the House and Senate, particularly in the Northeast.
RUNNER-UP: House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan was named “the most influential American politician” of 2011 and the third runner-up for Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” recognition today. (Kate Middleton was fourth runner-up.) “Through a combination of hard work, good timing and possibly suicidal guts, the Wisconsin Republican managed to harness his party to a dramatic plan for dealing with America’s rapidly rising public debt,” the magazine said. “He brought an ugly issue out of the foggy realm of think tanks and blue-ribbon panels and dropped it into the middle of the national debate in time to define the next presidential election.”
Finishing higher up in the editor’s balloting were Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei; William McRaven, the admiral who ran the SEAL operation that killed Osama bin Laden; and the face on the cover: “The Protester,” honoring the people from Tahrir Square to Zuccotti Park “for capturing and highlighting a global sense of restless promise, for upending governments and conventional wisdom, for combining the oldest of techniques with the newest of technologies to shine a light on human dignity and, finally, for steering the planet on a more democratic though sometimes more dangerous path.”
TRAIL TIPS:
(1) Steny Hoyer may not ever be Speaker, his unambiguous ambition of the past 30 years, but the minority whip insists he wants to stick around for at least one more term (which would be his 16th) representing southern Maryland. He turns 73 next June, and speculation that he would retire surged yesterday for two reasons: His longtime top aide, Terry Lierman, announced he was leaving the Hill to start a health care venture capital firm. (The new chief of staff will be Alexis Covey-Brandt, who now runs Hoyer’s floor operation and has been with Hoyer for eight years.) And state House GOP leader Anthony O’Donnell revealed he was ready to give up his legislative seat after 18 years to run for Hoyer’s seat, even though the state’s redistricting may make the 5th District no more inclined to go Republican. Hoyer told reporters he is firmly committed to seeking re-election.
(2) The 18 new congressional districts for Pennsylvania were unveiled last night by the Republicans who run Harrisburg, and it’s no surprise that the mapmakers went to great lengths to shore up the prospects for GOP congressmen in politically competitive territory. (Also no surprise, the legislators took care of the one House seat the state lost in reapportionment mainly by combining the exurban Pittsburgh districts currently held by Democrats Jason Altmire and Mark Critz, but in a way that gives each a fair shot at beating the other in a primary — and then gives GOP state Rep. Jim Christiana a solid shot in the fall.) On the other side of the state, the map was significantly reconfigured to make political life more comfortable for Patrick Meehan, Jim Gerlach, Charlie Dent, Tom Marino and — most of all — freshman Lou Barletta, who saw his territory changed from mostly Democratic to GOP-leaning. The biggest Democratic beneficiary is Tim Holden, whose seat was made safer by dispersing much of his GOP precinct to nearby Republican incumbents. Under the new map, Democrats will probably view the seats held by Republicans Mike Fitzpatrick and Mike Kelly as their most plausible pickup opportunities.
— David Hawkings, editor
Become a Facebook fan at facebook.com/DavidHawkingsDC. Or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/davidhawkings.
Today In Washington
THE SENATE: Convened at 9:30 and is now rejecting two versions of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution — a foregone conclusion ever since the votes were promised as part of the summer debt limit deal. Reid and McConnell are now working behind the scenes (while overtly furious at each other) on the next step in the year-ending tax extenders debate.
A party-line vote was expected to rebuff the Republican proposal, which was to cap spending at 18 percent of gross domestic product, require a two-thirds majority to increase taxes and dictate that spending not exceed revenue in each fiscal year unless supermajorities in Congress voted for deficits during war or other emergencies. The vote a few minutes ago was 21-79 against the Democratic alternative, which had no spending caps or special rules for tax bills (except that cuts for millionaires could only be allowed during times of surplus) and would shield the Social Security trust fund from being tapped to balance the books.
THE HOUSE: Convened at 10 and is expected to be dismissed before 5, after adopting the $662 billion defense authorization conference agreement and voting on as many as 10 bills under the suspension of the rules process.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama is arriving for a 90-minute visit to Fort Bragg, his first as president. At noon he and the first lady will deliver speeches thanking the troops and their families for their sacrifices during the Iraq War and promising that the administration remains committed to providing veterans robust benefits and help securing jobs. (The North Carolina fort — home to the Special Operations command, the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne, among others — says more than 200 soldiers who died in Iraq left from there.)
Obama is due back in the Oval Office by 2, and at 5 he’s headed a few blocks away to the St. Regis Hotel for another re-election fundraiser.
ANOTHER STANDOFF: Shutdown brinkmanship is back. There’s even a decent shot that the two sides will dig in long enough that the current stopgap spending law will be permitted to expire 60 hours from now, which would mean a mad weekend scramble to get something to replace it before the bulk of the federal government reopens for business next Monday — either a very, very short CR or the comprehensive $1 trillion appropriations package that’s essentially written up and ready to go.
The standoff intensified in the Senate this morning, when Reid proposed holding the next symbolic test vote tonight — the one in which the Democratic majority will formally spurn the payroll tax, jobless benefit, “doc fix” and AMT “patch” package pushed through the Republican House yesterday, because it also would speed along construction of the Keystone oil pipeline. McConnell objected, insisting that he’d use all his parliamentary powers to make sure the appropriations “megabus” is done first.
Republicans clearly see a way to seize back the year-end momentum on this front from Obama and the Senate Democrats, who have been holding the better hand for weeks on the question of continuing a tax cut for 160 million people. But now, the Democrats think their opponents have badly overplayed that hand by holding up final action on the spending bill until the GOP relents (or at least comes to the final bargaining table) on the tax package. And that, the Republicans say, makes Democrats vulnerable to the same criticism they have been using against the GOP all year: They’re willing to hold the government hostage, and cause genuine problems for millions of people, until they get what they want.
The longer the megabus package is allowed to sit on the shelf, the more it risks being picked apart around the edges — and it could well fall apart altogether if the votes aren’t called soon. Officially, the text is not out because no Senate Democrats have been allowed to sign on the dotted line at the bottom, but everyone knows it’s a done deal (despite what Reid insists) and more and more people are aware of the thousands of line-item details every hour. If the old legislative adage is that a compromise, like an unrefrigerated fish, starts to rot after three days, then this is Day Two.
AGAINST THE GRAIN: The 10 House Democrats who voted for the extenders bill last night bill were Barrow, Boren, Boswell, Braley, Cardoza, Donnelly, Loebsack, Matheson, Ross and Walz. The 14 Republicans who voted “no” were Amash, Barton, Brooks, Campbell, Flake, Fortenberry, Garrett, Tim Johnson, Lummis, McClintock, McKinley, Neugebauer, Wolf and Woodall.
SAVE THE DATE: Obama will deliver his next State of the Union address the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 24 — one day after the Senate returns from the coming break, and one week after the House reconvenes to start the second session of the 112th Congress.
DOWN IN THE POLL: Only 22 percent say the nation is headed in the right direction, according to the NBC-Wall Street Journal poll out today, while 42 percent say the performance of the current Congress is “one of the worst” ever —the highest number ever recorded on a question that’s been asked since 1990. Obama’s job-approval rating is at 46 percent, 2 points better than a month ago.
The poll’s numbers in the GOP presidential race, meanwhile, show Newt Gingrich leading Mitt Romney by 17 points among Republican voters nationwide — and by 23 points if all the other candidates are excluded. The reason seems clear: Only 29 percent view Romney as “conservative,” while 59 percent give Gingrich that label. But when the surveyors asked about general election matchups, they found Obama defeating the former Speaker by 11 points among all registered voters but in a statistical tie with the former Massachusetts governor. That apparent electability gap is what has so many Republican congressional strategists worried: They fret that Gingrich at the top of the could do the party serious damage in close races for the House and Senate, particularly in the Northeast.
RUNNER-UP: House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan was named “the most influential American politician” of 2011 and the third runner-up for Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” recognition today. (Kate Middleton was fourth runner-up.) “Through a combination of hard work, good timing and possibly suicidal guts, the Wisconsin Republican managed to harness his party to a dramatic plan for dealing with America’s rapidly rising public debt,” the magazine said. “He brought an ugly issue out of the foggy realm of think tanks and blue-ribbon panels and dropped it into the middle of the national debate in time to define the next presidential election.”
Finishing higher up in the editor’s balloting were Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei; William McRaven, the admiral who ran the SEAL operation that killed Osama bin Laden; and the face on the cover: “The Protester,” honoring the people from Tahrir Square to Zuccotti Park “for capturing and highlighting a global sense of restless promise, for upending governments and conventional wisdom, for combining the oldest of techniques with the newest of technologies to shine a light on human dignity and, finally, for steering the planet on a more democratic though sometimes more dangerous path.”
TRAIL TIPS:
(1) Steny Hoyer may not ever be Speaker, his unambiguous ambition of the past 30 years, but the minority whip insists he wants to stick around for at least one more term (which would be his 16th) representing southern Maryland. He turns 73 next June, and speculation that he would retire surged yesterday for two reasons: His longtime top aide, Terry Lierman, announced he was leaving the Hill to start a health care venture capital firm. (The new chief of staff will be Alexis Covey-Brandt, who now runs Hoyer’s floor operation and has been with Hoyer for eight years.) And state House GOP leader Anthony O’Donnell revealed he was ready to give up his legislative seat after 18 years to run for Hoyer’s seat, even though the state’s redistricting may make the 5th District no more inclined to go Republican. Hoyer told reporters he is firmly committed to seeking re-election.
(2) The 18 new congressional districts for Pennsylvania were unveiled last night by the Republicans who run Harrisburg, and it’s no surprise that the mapmakers went to great lengths to shore up the prospects for GOP congressmen in politically competitive territory. (Also no surprise, the legislators took care of the one House seat the state lost in reapportionment mainly by combining the exurban Pittsburgh districts currently held by Democrats Jason Altmire and Mark Critz, but in a way that gives each a fair shot at beating the other in a primary — and then gives GOP state Rep. Jim Christiana a solid shot in the fall.) On the other side of the state, the map was significantly reconfigured to make political life more comfortable for Patrick Meehan, Jim Gerlach, Charlie Dent, Tom Marino and — most of all — freshman Lou Barletta, who saw his territory changed from mostly Democratic to GOP-leaning. The biggest Democratic beneficiary is Tim Holden, whose seat was made safer by dispersing much of his GOP precinct to nearby Republican incumbents. Under the new map, Democrats will probably view the seats held by Republicans Mike Fitzpatrick and Mike Kelly as their most plausible pickup opportunities.
— David Hawkings, editor
Become a Facebook fan at facebook.com/DavidHawkingsDC. Or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/davidhawkings.
House Passes Payroll Tax Cut Extension With Keystone Pipeline Provision
WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — Defiant Republicans pushed legislation through the House Tuesday night that would keep alive Social Security payroll tax cuts for some 160 million Americans at President Barack Obama’s request – but also would require construction of a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline that has sparked a White House veto threat.
Passage, on a largely party-line vote of 234-193, sent the measure toward its certain demise in the Democratic-controlled Senate, triggering the final partisan showdown of a remarkably quarrelsome year of divided government.
The legislation “extends the payroll tax relief, extends and reforms unemployment insurance and protects Social Security – without job-killing tax hikes,” Republican House Speaker John Boehner declared after the measure had cleared.
Referring to the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline, he added, “Our bill includes sensible, bipartisan measures to help the private sector create jobs.”
On a long day of finger pointing, however, House Democrats accused Republicans of protecting “millionaires and billionaires, `’ and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., derided the GOP-backed pipeline provision as “ideological candy” for the tea party-set.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/house-passes-payroll-tax-cut-extension-with-oil-pipeline-provision/
Passage, on a largely party-line vote of 234-193, sent the measure toward its certain demise in the Democratic-controlled Senate, triggering the final partisan showdown of a remarkably quarrelsome year of divided government.
The legislation “extends the payroll tax relief, extends and reforms unemployment insurance and protects Social Security – without job-killing tax hikes,” Republican House Speaker John Boehner declared after the measure had cleared.
Referring to the controversy over the Keystone XL pipeline, he added, “Our bill includes sensible, bipartisan measures to help the private sector create jobs.”
On a long day of finger pointing, however, House Democrats accused Republicans of protecting “millionaires and billionaires, `’ and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., derided the GOP-backed pipeline provision as “ideological candy” for the tea party-set.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/house-passes-payroll-tax-cut-extension-with-oil-pipeline-provision/
Monday, January 3, 2011
Mon, January 3, 2011: CQ Roll Call Daily Briefing: Ignore the House for a Minute
Today In Washington
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Neither is in session until Wednesday, when both will convene at noon for the start of the 112th Congress.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama is on the final full day of his Hawaiian vacation. He’s expected back in Washington tomorrow afternoon.
OPENING CEREMONIES: The first days of the year, on both sides of the Capitol, are shaping up to be much more about political tone-setting than about launching grand legislative drives.
Most of the attention, naturally enough, is being paid to how the Republicans are stage-managing their return to power in the House, from the subdued tone Boehner is setting for his ascent to the Speakership to the stately pace and modest expectations that his leadership team is setting for the party’s agenda. (The first spending cut the House will approve this week will be a drop-in-the-bucket $25 million, which will be marketed instead as a bold 5 percent reductions in the office budgets of all House members.)
What’s not gotten much attention, yet, is the potential for an opening day Senate showdown on filibuster rules. The Latin-infused rhetoric and parliamentary maneuvering will sound like a lot of insider mumbo jumbo to much of the nation. But making it more difficult for the minority party to block bills and nominees has the potential to narrow the partisan chasm and alter the way Congress does business much more than an annual recitation of the Constitution’s text on the House floor, which is being arranged by the GOP as a shout-out to the tea party faithful.
In the past two years, Reid had to spend an extraordinary amount of time honing his skill at breaking filibusters, which in the end he was able to do more often than any majority leader before him. But for more than a year now many of his fellow Democrats — mostly first-termers led by Missouri’s Claire McCaskill and New Mexico’s Tom Udall — have been mulling over what’s their highest-percentage shot at a rules change that would weaken the filibuster. They have not yet shown their cards, but they’re expected to make their move this week in the belief that precedent should allow them to get whatever change they want with a simple majority vote (in other words, the GOP won’t be able to block them) if they act right at the start of the new Congress.
Slightly reducing the supermajority of 60 required to invoke cloture, doing away with the power to mount a filibuster on the motion to begin debating a bill, or maybe just requiring senators to make good on their filibusters the old-fashioned way — by standing in the well and talking all night — would all tend to force the weakened minority to be more willing to compromise on legislation. It would not, however, do anything to speed the ratification of treaties, which will still need a two-thirds vote.
SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT: Republicans already are conceding that they will be unable to make good on their highest-profile aspiration, repealing the new health care law, because there’s no way the Senate will go along even if there’s a veto-proof majority for doing so in the House. (Michigan’s Fred Upton, the new Energy and Commerce chairman, yesterday predicted at least a two-third majority for total repeal and said the House vote would come before the State of the Union address, which Obama is likely to deliver Jan. 25.)
Absent outright repeal, the GOP strategy is to pick away at the health overhaul’s most contentious provisions through a combination of hearings, narrow legislation and — probably most effective of all — single-line amendments to spending bills that prevent the spending of any money to carry out a narrow provisions of law, or the regulations to carry it out.
One of the first efforts will be to try to prevent Medicare bureaucrats from spending money on their new regulation designed to promote discussions about end-of-life issues between doctors and patients — the sort of talks that were going to be written into the law, but got dropped, after Sarah Palin famously derided the idea as leading to the creation of government “death panels.”
THE FIELD NARROWS: Only four of the people who want to replace Michael Steele as the Republican Party’s national chairman will be debating him at the National Press Club at lunchtime. That’s because the fifth would-be challenger — Gentry Collins, who stepped down as RNC political director just after the election — dropped out of the race overnight.
The front-runner is clearly anybody but Steele, whose support has been sagging in the runup to Friday’s voting at the party bosses’ annual winter meeting. The man to beat has been Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus, but his star has faded the longer people ponder that he was once Steele’s general counsel. (Two of the chairman’s current top aides, chief of staff Mike Leavitt and spokesman Doug Heye, are on their way out of GOP headquarters even if their boss scores an upset win for a second term.) The remaining candidates for party chairman are former Missouri party chief Ann Wagner, onetime GOP convention chief executive Maria Cino, and former Michigan party chairman Saul Anuzis.
TAMPA TICK-TOCK: The new year signals the unfettered, unambiguous start to the 2012 presidential campaign — with almost all the attention focused on maneuvering by the Republicans who could form a potentially enormous and fractious field of would-be Obama challenges. (One of them will be nominated on Florida’s Gulf Coast fully 20 months from now.)
The big New Year’s weekend coup went to Mitt Romney, who secured the endorsement of the senior senator from a crucial early primary state: South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, as he prepares to seek a third term in his own right next year, apparently has concluded he’s not going to go out of his way to curry favor with the tea party crowd by endorsing someone more overtly and reliably conservative. Someone like, for example, the state’s other senator, Jim DeMint, who is among the huge GOP crowd still toying with the idea of a White House run.
As for Sarah Palin — whose own intentions continue to mystify GOP professionals — she continued to get attention for intensifying her connection to a state in the Lower 48. A week after word that her daughter Bristol paid $172,000 for a five-bedroom house in the hard-hit-by-foreclosures Phoenix suburb of Maricopa, a Palin acolyte has been named chief of staff to one of Arizona’s three new Republican congressmen: Paul Gosar of Flagstaff. The new top aide, Rob Robinson, has been a dentist just like his new boss. It was Robinson who introduced Gosar to the former Alaska governor, who ended up giving him a pivotal endorsement.
— David Hawkings, editor
Become a Facebook fan at facebook.com/DavidHawkingsDC. Or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/davidhawkings.
THE HOUSE AND SENATE: Neither is in session until Wednesday, when both will convene at noon for the start of the 112th Congress.
THE WHITE HOUSE: Obama is on the final full day of his Hawaiian vacation. He’s expected back in Washington tomorrow afternoon.
OPENING CEREMONIES: The first days of the year, on both sides of the Capitol, are shaping up to be much more about political tone-setting than about launching grand legislative drives.
Most of the attention, naturally enough, is being paid to how the Republicans are stage-managing their return to power in the House, from the subdued tone Boehner is setting for his ascent to the Speakership to the stately pace and modest expectations that his leadership team is setting for the party’s agenda. (The first spending cut the House will approve this week will be a drop-in-the-bucket $25 million, which will be marketed instead as a bold 5 percent reductions in the office budgets of all House members.)
What’s not gotten much attention, yet, is the potential for an opening day Senate showdown on filibuster rules. The Latin-infused rhetoric and parliamentary maneuvering will sound like a lot of insider mumbo jumbo to much of the nation. But making it more difficult for the minority party to block bills and nominees has the potential to narrow the partisan chasm and alter the way Congress does business much more than an annual recitation of the Constitution’s text on the House floor, which is being arranged by the GOP as a shout-out to the tea party faithful.
In the past two years, Reid had to spend an extraordinary amount of time honing his skill at breaking filibusters, which in the end he was able to do more often than any majority leader before him. But for more than a year now many of his fellow Democrats — mostly first-termers led by Missouri’s Claire McCaskill and New Mexico’s Tom Udall — have been mulling over what’s their highest-percentage shot at a rules change that would weaken the filibuster. They have not yet shown their cards, but they’re expected to make their move this week in the belief that precedent should allow them to get whatever change they want with a simple majority vote (in other words, the GOP won’t be able to block them) if they act right at the start of the new Congress.
Slightly reducing the supermajority of 60 required to invoke cloture, doing away with the power to mount a filibuster on the motion to begin debating a bill, or maybe just requiring senators to make good on their filibusters the old-fashioned way — by standing in the well and talking all night — would all tend to force the weakened minority to be more willing to compromise on legislation. It would not, however, do anything to speed the ratification of treaties, which will still need a two-thirds vote.
SHAVE AND A HAIRCUT: Republicans already are conceding that they will be unable to make good on their highest-profile aspiration, repealing the new health care law, because there’s no way the Senate will go along even if there’s a veto-proof majority for doing so in the House. (Michigan’s Fred Upton, the new Energy and Commerce chairman, yesterday predicted at least a two-third majority for total repeal and said the House vote would come before the State of the Union address, which Obama is likely to deliver Jan. 25.)
Absent outright repeal, the GOP strategy is to pick away at the health overhaul’s most contentious provisions through a combination of hearings, narrow legislation and — probably most effective of all — single-line amendments to spending bills that prevent the spending of any money to carry out a narrow provisions of law, or the regulations to carry it out.
One of the first efforts will be to try to prevent Medicare bureaucrats from spending money on their new regulation designed to promote discussions about end-of-life issues between doctors and patients — the sort of talks that were going to be written into the law, but got dropped, after Sarah Palin famously derided the idea as leading to the creation of government “death panels.”
THE FIELD NARROWS: Only four of the people who want to replace Michael Steele as the Republican Party’s national chairman will be debating him at the National Press Club at lunchtime. That’s because the fifth would-be challenger — Gentry Collins, who stepped down as RNC political director just after the election — dropped out of the race overnight.
The front-runner is clearly anybody but Steele, whose support has been sagging in the runup to Friday’s voting at the party bosses’ annual winter meeting. The man to beat has been Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus, but his star has faded the longer people ponder that he was once Steele’s general counsel. (Two of the chairman’s current top aides, chief of staff Mike Leavitt and spokesman Doug Heye, are on their way out of GOP headquarters even if their boss scores an upset win for a second term.) The remaining candidates for party chairman are former Missouri party chief Ann Wagner, onetime GOP convention chief executive Maria Cino, and former Michigan party chairman Saul Anuzis.
TAMPA TICK-TOCK: The new year signals the unfettered, unambiguous start to the 2012 presidential campaign — with almost all the attention focused on maneuvering by the Republicans who could form a potentially enormous and fractious field of would-be Obama challenges. (One of them will be nominated on Florida’s Gulf Coast fully 20 months from now.)
The big New Year’s weekend coup went to Mitt Romney, who secured the endorsement of the senior senator from a crucial early primary state: South Carolina’s Lindsey Graham, as he prepares to seek a third term in his own right next year, apparently has concluded he’s not going to go out of his way to curry favor with the tea party crowd by endorsing someone more overtly and reliably conservative. Someone like, for example, the state’s other senator, Jim DeMint, who is among the huge GOP crowd still toying with the idea of a White House run.
As for Sarah Palin — whose own intentions continue to mystify GOP professionals — she continued to get attention for intensifying her connection to a state in the Lower 48. A week after word that her daughter Bristol paid $172,000 for a five-bedroom house in the hard-hit-by-foreclosures Phoenix suburb of Maricopa, a Palin acolyte has been named chief of staff to one of Arizona’s three new Republican congressmen: Paul Gosar of Flagstaff. The new top aide, Rob Robinson, has been a dentist just like his new boss. It was Robinson who introduced Gosar to the former Alaska governor, who ended up giving him a pivotal endorsement.
— David Hawkings, editor
Become a Facebook fan at facebook.com/DavidHawkingsDC. Or follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/davidhawkings.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Senate Plans Weekend Votes on ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ Amnesty Bill!!
The photo above is a no good, treasonous back stabbing trader, stinking Moonbat political whore that would sell his country out for political power!! I’ll tell you how I really feel later. Nevada can have him with his Nevada jobless rate rises to 14.3%…
Randy’s Right
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20025987-503544.html
After abandoning on Thursday night a $1.3 trillion omnibus Senate spending bill, Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid filed cloture for the DREAM Act and a stand-alone repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – both of which are now expected to reach the Senate for final votes as early as this weekend.
Reid, faced with receding Republican support for the spending bill (not to mention threats to read it aloud in its 1,924-page entirety), turned his attention instead to two bills that liberal Democrats hope to push through in the final days of the lame duck congressional session.
The Senate is now expected to vote on debate for both the DREAM Act and a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on Saturday morning, and the Washington Post reports that final votes on both bills could take place as early as Sunday or Monday.
The Saturday vote on “Don’t Ask” will be Senate Democrats’ third attempt this year to eliminate the policy, which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the military, and many believe it the best – and possibly last – chance to repeal the measure before a newly Republican-heavy Congress convenes in 2011.
“I want to thank Senator Reid for his leadership in bringing the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010′ to the Senate floor for a vote,” said Independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, one of the bill’s sponsors, in a recent statement. “I am confident that we have more than 60 votes to end this law that discriminates against military service members based solely on their sexual orientation. Repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will affirm the Senate’s commitment to the civil rights of all Americans and also make our military even stronger.”
The most recent attempt to repeal “Don’t Ask,” which was tied to a larger defense spending bill, is believed to have failed as a result of procedural objections by moderate conservatives like Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who has said he would vote for repeal – but not until Congress had passed a tax plan.
Upon the passage early Friday morning of a sweeping bipartisan tax bill, however, Democrats expect they now have the necessary 60 votes to avoid a filibuster and pass the bill.
Republican Sens. Brown (who on Thursday confirmed his willingness to vote for the bill), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) have said they would support the bill, and all but one Democrat – West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin – is believed to be in favor of voting for repeal.
The prospects of the DREAM Act, however, are less clear. The measure, which would provide undocumented young people with pathways to American citizenship, has inspired criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, and a Senate vote on the legislation was recently delayed due to lack of sufficient support for passage.
Randy’s Right
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20025987-503544.html
After abandoning on Thursday night a $1.3 trillion omnibus Senate spending bill, Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid filed cloture for the DREAM Act and a stand-alone repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” – both of which are now expected to reach the Senate for final votes as early as this weekend.
Reid, faced with receding Republican support for the spending bill (not to mention threats to read it aloud in its 1,924-page entirety), turned his attention instead to two bills that liberal Democrats hope to push through in the final days of the lame duck congressional session.
The Senate is now expected to vote on debate for both the DREAM Act and a repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on Saturday morning, and the Washington Post reports that final votes on both bills could take place as early as Sunday or Monday.
The Saturday vote on “Don’t Ask” will be Senate Democrats’ third attempt this year to eliminate the policy, which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the military, and many believe it the best – and possibly last – chance to repeal the measure before a newly Republican-heavy Congress convenes in 2011.
“I want to thank Senator Reid for his leadership in bringing the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010′ to the Senate floor for a vote,” said Independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, one of the bill’s sponsors, in a recent statement. “I am confident that we have more than 60 votes to end this law that discriminates against military service members based solely on their sexual orientation. Repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will affirm the Senate’s commitment to the civil rights of all Americans and also make our military even stronger.”
The most recent attempt to repeal “Don’t Ask,” which was tied to a larger defense spending bill, is believed to have failed as a result of procedural objections by moderate conservatives like Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, who has said he would vote for repeal – but not until Congress had passed a tax plan.
Upon the passage early Friday morning of a sweeping bipartisan tax bill, however, Democrats expect they now have the necessary 60 votes to avoid a filibuster and pass the bill.
Republican Sens. Brown (who on Thursday confirmed his willingness to vote for the bill), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine) have said they would support the bill, and all but one Democrat – West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin – is believed to be in favor of voting for repeal.
The prospects of the DREAM Act, however, are less clear. The measure, which would provide undocumented young people with pathways to American citizenship, has inspired criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike, and a Senate vote on the legislation was recently delayed due to lack of sufficient support for passage.
Contact big Talk Radio to help us fight amnesty today
From: Roy Beck, President, NumbersUSA
Date: Friday 17DEC2010
PERSUADE THE GIANT TALK RADIO SHOWS TO URGE THEIR LISTENERS TO CALL ABOUT THE AMNESTY IMMEDIATELY
This is the best way that we can boost the number of phone calls to match the PRO-amnesty phone banks.
I am sending this only to those of you who have been super activists during the last six weeks of battling the DREAM Act amnesty.
We need the help of these national voices:
Hannity (800) 941-7326
G Beck (888) 727-2325
Laura Ingrahm (800) 876-4123
G. Gordon Liddy 1 (800) GGLIDDY
Lars Larson (866) HEY-LARS
The Jim Bohannon Show 1-866-50-JIMBO
Rush Limbaugh1-800-282-2882
The Mancow Show 888-2-mancow
Lou Dobbs Show 877-55-DOBBS
POST TIPS ON DRUDGE
www.drudgereport.com/
You will see the place to post news tips in the right column further down the page.
This is important. Drudge has a gigantic audience but has given very little attention the DREAM Act amnesty.
You are the only ones who can create some real momentum on that website for seeing the amnesty vote tomorrow as the most important issues of this day.
USE TALK RADIO WEBSITES, TOO
HERE IS WHAT YOU ARE ASKING OF THE TALK RADIO SHOWS
I ask you also to use your own searches to find their websites and send email requests into their producers as well.
What you are asking is that they focus their listeners' attention today on the danger of the giant DREAM Act amnesty that will come up for a vote in Senate Saturday morning.
The other side is bragging that they didn't have the votes to pass the amnesty the day before it came up in the House last week. But they say their 100,000 phone calls helped switch enough votes for them to pass it the next day. They are running the same kind of phone banks today.
Anything after 6 p.m. this evening will be too late. We need the plea for phone calls to happen immediately and through the afternoon.
Once any of these shows are on, listen to them. If they are promoting the anti-amnesty calls, you can stop contacting them.
But if you listen to a show and don't hear the plea happening every 15 minutes or so, keep contacting them.
Remember that the CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD
is: 202-224-3121
The PRO-amnesty forces have the benefit of tens of millions of dollars to spend on PR firms and automated phone banks etc.
But they don't have Talk Radio. The Talk Radio hosts can turn this thing around this afternoon. They can flood the switchboards if they realize that we are right on the edge of having another giant amnesty tomorrow.
THANKS FOR MOVING ON THIS IMMEDIATELY.
YOU ARE THE ELITE TROOPS OF THIS MOVEMENT.
P.S. Keep watching your Action Board for updates.
www.NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet
Date: Friday 17DEC2010
PERSUADE THE GIANT TALK RADIO SHOWS TO URGE THEIR LISTENERS TO CALL ABOUT THE AMNESTY IMMEDIATELY
This is the best way that we can boost the number of phone calls to match the PRO-amnesty phone banks.
I am sending this only to those of you who have been super activists during the last six weeks of battling the DREAM Act amnesty.
We need the help of these national voices:
Hannity (800) 941-7326
G Beck (888) 727-2325
Laura Ingrahm (800) 876-4123
G. Gordon Liddy 1 (800) GGLIDDY
Lars Larson (866) HEY-LARS
The Jim Bohannon Show 1-866-50-JIMBO
Rush Limbaugh1-800-282-2882
The Mancow Show 888-2-mancow
Lou Dobbs Show 877-55-DOBBS
POST TIPS ON DRUDGE
www.drudgereport.com/
You will see the place to post news tips in the right column further down the page.
This is important. Drudge has a gigantic audience but has given very little attention the DREAM Act amnesty.
You are the only ones who can create some real momentum on that website for seeing the amnesty vote tomorrow as the most important issues of this day.
USE TALK RADIO WEBSITES, TOO
HERE IS WHAT YOU ARE ASKING OF THE TALK RADIO SHOWS
I ask you also to use your own searches to find their websites and send email requests into their producers as well.
What you are asking is that they focus their listeners' attention today on the danger of the giant DREAM Act amnesty that will come up for a vote in Senate Saturday morning.
The other side is bragging that they didn't have the votes to pass the amnesty the day before it came up in the House last week. But they say their 100,000 phone calls helped switch enough votes for them to pass it the next day. They are running the same kind of phone banks today.
Anything after 6 p.m. this evening will be too late. We need the plea for phone calls to happen immediately and through the afternoon.
Once any of these shows are on, listen to them. If they are promoting the anti-amnesty calls, you can stop contacting them.
But if you listen to a show and don't hear the plea happening every 15 minutes or so, keep contacting them.
Remember that the CAPITOL SWITCHBOARD
is: 202-224-3121
The PRO-amnesty forces have the benefit of tens of millions of dollars to spend on PR firms and automated phone banks etc.
But they don't have Talk Radio. The Talk Radio hosts can turn this thing around this afternoon. They can flood the switchboards if they realize that we are right on the edge of having another giant amnesty tomorrow.
THANKS FOR MOVING ON THIS IMMEDIATELY.
YOU ARE THE ELITE TROOPS OF THIS MOVEMENT.
P.S. Keep watching your Action Board for updates.
www.NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Fighting amnesty Tuesday -- update
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
From CCTA Amnesty Chairman, Mary Delaney
I know we are all fed up with this problem, but that is what the illegal alien lobby is hoping; we'll stop phoning and faxing. I made a significant contribution to Numbers today which will be eligible for matching so please fax again even if you've done it before. Please keep up the phone calls as Roy has targeted below. I hope you saw the video of some of the illegal alien students in LA that I forwarded earlier. We don't see demos like that here in eastern Carolina, but believe me the northeast, mid Atlantic and west coasts are getting the brunt. Remember many of these students have been taught by liberal teachers and radicals so they believe that this country OWES them the rights of citizenship. Nothing has changed about border security, if anything it's worse, so passage will result in thousands more pouring into the US to take advantage of this amnesty. BECAUSE THERE IS NO PROOF REQUIRED OF THE ALIEN AS TO HOW LONG THEY"VE HERE OR IF THEY EVEN WENT TO SCHOOL HERE. This ACT is wide open for fraud.
Please defend your country at this time of need and be active.
Mary
Roy Beck - NumbersUSA.com
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:05 PM
Subject: Fighting amnesty Tuesday -- update
Pro-Amnesty Groups Claim 160,000 Phone Calls
Senate Staying In DC Longer To Have Time To Pass Amnesty
TODAY'S UPDATE ON YOUR LONG & VALIANT BATTLE
Yes, your phone calls are still needed -- and today! 202-224-3121
And be sure to visit your www.NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet http://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/action/board
The PRO-amnesty groups have virtually unlimited funds to solicit phone calls and run them through their expensive call services so they can monitor. I am guessing that their claim of 160,000 phone calls may be accurate. I'm sorry to say this in the middle of the holiday season and just before Christmas, but your calls are the only things keeping a couple more Senators from jumping onto the amnesty bandwagon.
See target lists below.
HERE'S THE UPDATE IN BRIEF FOR TODAY:
Pro-amnesty forces claim they are only one vote short of victory. I really believe this is part of their two-year-long bluff to try to make themselves seem like they have momentum in order to perhaps frighten some Senators to join the "winning" team. Nonetheless, their claim is unnerving. We can't afford to do anything but take it seriously. The pro-amnesty TV network Univision is reporting 4 votes short of 60, with several still Undeclared. That is scary enough.
Sen. Brown says NO! That's the best news from yesterday. He was the Republican whom the pro-amnesty forces claimed was going to get them to the 60-vote victory mark. (See more details below.) Congratulations to all you activists in Massachusetts.
Senate isn't going home at end of week. Senate Majority Leader Reid had earlier indicated he wouldn't keep Senators in session until Christmas Eve like he did last year. Typically, Congress adjourns before Thanksgiving to allow the nation to feel safe at least for the month of December. Reid was supposedly going to let the Senate go home at the end of this week. (The newly elected Congress takes over Jan. 5.) If the Congress adjourned at the end of this week, it was going to be hard to shoe-horn the DREAM Act amnesty debate and vote in between all the giant have-to business. But now, it looks like the Senate is staying in session until next week and maybe until next Thursday the 23rd. Bad news for us.
Amnesty vote unlikely before LATE this week. Yesterday, we were saying the amnesty vote might happen as early as Wednesday (tomorrow). With the extended Senate session, it is difficult to see the amnesty coming up before this weekend and probably next week. That gives the various contingents of illegal-alien students and clergy coalitions a lot more time to lay guilt trips on Undeclared and squishy-NO Senators back home. More bad news.
We have only one chance instead of two to defeat on cloture votes. Previously, Sen. Reid had to get 60 votes to pass cloture to START debate on the DREAM amnesty. If we lost that one, we would have another chance to keep him from getting 60 votes to pass cloture to STOP debate and have a final vote. That has changed. Because the House has sent over its own DREAM amnesty, Reid can bring it up for debate at any time WITHOUT a cloture vote. We expect that he will immediately file cloture to STOP the debate even before it begins. Once he does that, he can't hold the cloture vote until two days later. This isn't a big deal, but the change does disadvantage us somewhat from our ability to kill the amnesty.
TOP SENATE TARGETS
UNDECLARED BUT LEANING YES
202-224-3121
ALASKA--Sen. Murkowski (R): No statement on her web site and no media quotes. Daily Kos says multiple whips counts have her as a likely supporter. Most of the PRO-amnesty groups are counting her as a YES.
LOUISIANA--Sen. Landrieu (D): She indicates that the House bill needs to be considered because it has some changes (suggesting that she will claim the House bill closes loopholes). She talks of major concern for the "children."
MICHIGAN--Sen. Stabenow (D): She was a certain YES on cloture to start debate. But she has not indicated whether she would vote YES to end debate and thus pass the bill. She is up for re-election in 2012 in a state that turned sharply Republican in the 2010 elections. Now (as noted above), we are facing only a cloture vote to END debate. PRO-amnesty forces count her as theirs. But I don't think she has to be at all.
MISSOURI--Sen. McCaskill (D): McCaskill has a wide-ranging interview on her web site. Appears to be leaning toward yes but its non-committal. She says (1) we have never punished children, (2) this is a different bill than the one I voted against, and (3) if this bill is more narrowly drawn, I will take a serious look at it. She needs to be reminded that any amnesty support will certainly show up when she tries to be re-elected in 2012 by a state that went sharply Republican in the 2010 elections.
NORTH DAKOTA--Sen. Dorgan (D): He was a certain YES on cloture to start debate. But he has not indicated whether he would vote YES to end debate and thus pass the bill. Now (as noted above), we are facing only a cloture vote to END debate. In the past, he has been one of our most reliable NO votes on amnesty. But he is retiring and acting squishy. PRO-amnesty forces are counting him as theirs. I don't think that has to be true at all.
UNDECLARED BUT LEANING NO
202-224-3121
These Senators' staff continually tell our members that they will vote NO. But for some reason, all media and political whip counts are calling them Undeclared. Thank them and encourage them to go ahead and publicly declare themselves a NO.
MONTANA--Sen. Baucus (D):
NORTH CAROLINA--Sen. Hagan (D)
NORTH DAKOTA--Sen. Conrad (D)
UNDECLARED AND TOTALLY UNKNOWN
202-224-3121
WEST VIRGINIA--Sen. Manchin (D)
DECLARED NO BUT OF SOME CONCERN
202-224-3121
MAINE--Sen. Collins (R)
OHIO--Sen. Voinovich (R)
Please make those calls. We can win this, like we have beaten every amnesty in every year since 2000.
KEY MESSAGES IN ALL PHONE CALLS TO SENATORS WHO ARE SYMPATHETIC TO THE DREAM ACT POSTER CHILDREN
Keep this in mind about Senators who are Undeclared, or who say they will vote NO but are squishy, or who say they will vote YES but are potentially movable to NO:
They all are sympathetic to the poster children of the DREAM Act -- those are the minority of potential amnesty recipients who were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were infants or toddlers and who are now good high school or college students.
You will gain nothing with the Senators we are trying to reach today by being negative about these students.
Instead, you have to approach these Senators on the basis of practicality. Perhaps the poster children do deserve consideration in the future but not before the enforcement is put in place to stop future illegal immigration. Your argument is that it is not possible in this rushed Lame Duck session to create and pass an amnesty that is limited to the deserving and which will stop future unfair illegal labor competition to unemployed Americans.
My thought is that it would be helpful today for every phone call to make the same pitches to Senators who are sympathetic to the poster children of the DREAM amnesty:
No matter how sympathetic these students may be, you can't give out another mass amnesty without fixing the weak enforcement that allowed their parents to bring them here and keep them here for years and years. DREAM has ZERO enforcement.
The DREAM Act amnesty includes no requirement that jobs be shut off to the millions of future illegal aliens who will bring THEIR children and put them in this exact same predicament that DREAM puports to resolve. It is totally irresponsible to the 22 million unemployed Americans to give out a big amnesty without requiring mandatory verification to keep illegal aliens from holding jobs.
SENS. BROWN (R-Mass.) & LeMEIUX (R-Fla.) SHOW THE PRACTICAL RESPONSE TO EMOTIONAL APPEALS
Perhaps no two Senators have been subjected to as much emotional pressure to bow to amnesty. The PRO-amnesty forces have bet the farm on moving these two because of special political circumstances in their states.
In its report of Sen. Brown's declaration of opposition to DREAM amnesty yesterday, the Associated Press reported: Brown's remarks came as a coalition of educators, religious leaders and immigrant advocates made a last ditch appeal Monday asking him to support the proposal. Brown also had been a target of a national campaign by advocates.
For months, supporters of the bill and illegal immigrant college students, who call themselves "DREAMers," have staged sit-ins, rallies and marches outside Brown's office. Students have left hundreds of signed letters from supporters and young immigrants who said they would enlisted in the military if the bill passed.
Imagine if you were under that kind of emotional pressure? Imagine having all those clergy suggesting that you are inhumane, anti-Hispanic and even immoral if you don't legalize these young adult illegal aliens!
I have to tip my hat to Sen Brown for having the confidence of his convictions and a sense of that morality of standing up for 22 million Americans who want a full-time job but who can't find one. He once again declared his opposition to the DREAM amnesty at a Salvation Army charity event in downtown Boston!!!!!
Sen. LeMieux has been under similar pressures. After the Senate voted to postpone the amnesty vote last week, he put out this statement:
I am very sympathetic to the young people who entered our country illegally by no fault of their own, but I will not support consideration of the DREAM Act without addressing border security. I recently visited the US-Mexico border in Arizona and witnessed the progress toward securing the border. Fully funding and replicating our security successes across the border would allow us to address the DREAM act. However, we are still far from achieving a level of border security that is acceptable to me or to the American people.
I would have liked to see Sen. LeMieux set a higher standard of pre-conditions, including mandatory workplace verification and an end to chain migration, but his standard works just fine for the few weeks until he leaves office.
This is the line in the sand you are asking every Senator to draw . . .
. . . . . The line is that whatever one's feelings about the merits of some illegal aliens for an amnesty, no amnesty should be even talked about until the border is secure against continued mass illegal immigration and our jobs are secure from illegal aliens being able to take them from Americans.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR PICKING UP THAT PHONE ONCE AGAIN,
This may be a good time for you to make sure that you've let us know all of the areas you are interested in. In order to further customize the type of alerts you receive click here http://www.numbersusa.com/survey?action=longlist
As a NumbersUSA subscriber, you will receive occasional emails about immigration-related opportunities. If you want to increase or reduce the frequency of these emails, click here and choose from Total Activism, Moderate Activism, or Limited Activism at the bottom of your registration form: http://www.numbersusa.com/user
NumbersUSA - relies upon individuals like you to reach its goal of an environmentally sustainable and economically just America.
Numbers USA
1601 N. Kent Street
Suite 1100
Arlington, VA 22209
From CCTA Amnesty Chairman, Mary Delaney
I know we are all fed up with this problem, but that is what the illegal alien lobby is hoping; we'll stop phoning and faxing. I made a significant contribution to Numbers today which will be eligible for matching so please fax again even if you've done it before. Please keep up the phone calls as Roy has targeted below. I hope you saw the video of some of the illegal alien students in LA that I forwarded earlier. We don't see demos like that here in eastern Carolina, but believe me the northeast, mid Atlantic and west coasts are getting the brunt. Remember many of these students have been taught by liberal teachers and radicals so they believe that this country OWES them the rights of citizenship. Nothing has changed about border security, if anything it's worse, so passage will result in thousands more pouring into the US to take advantage of this amnesty. BECAUSE THERE IS NO PROOF REQUIRED OF THE ALIEN AS TO HOW LONG THEY"VE HERE OR IF THEY EVEN WENT TO SCHOOL HERE. This ACT is wide open for fraud.
Please defend your country at this time of need and be active.
Mary
Roy Beck - NumbersUSA.com
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 6:05 PM
Subject: Fighting amnesty Tuesday -- update
Pro-Amnesty Groups Claim 160,000 Phone Calls
Senate Staying In DC Longer To Have Time To Pass Amnesty
TODAY'S UPDATE ON YOUR LONG & VALIANT BATTLE
Yes, your phone calls are still needed -- and today! 202-224-3121
And be sure to visit your www.NumbersUSA.com/actionbuffet http://www.numbersusa.com/content/my/action/board
The PRO-amnesty groups have virtually unlimited funds to solicit phone calls and run them through their expensive call services so they can monitor. I am guessing that their claim of 160,000 phone calls may be accurate. I'm sorry to say this in the middle of the holiday season and just before Christmas, but your calls are the only things keeping a couple more Senators from jumping onto the amnesty bandwagon.
See target lists below.
HERE'S THE UPDATE IN BRIEF FOR TODAY:
Pro-amnesty forces claim they are only one vote short of victory. I really believe this is part of their two-year-long bluff to try to make themselves seem like they have momentum in order to perhaps frighten some Senators to join the "winning" team. Nonetheless, their claim is unnerving. We can't afford to do anything but take it seriously. The pro-amnesty TV network Univision is reporting 4 votes short of 60, with several still Undeclared. That is scary enough.
Sen. Brown says NO! That's the best news from yesterday. He was the Republican whom the pro-amnesty forces claimed was going to get them to the 60-vote victory mark. (See more details below.) Congratulations to all you activists in Massachusetts.
Senate isn't going home at end of week. Senate Majority Leader Reid had earlier indicated he wouldn't keep Senators in session until Christmas Eve like he did last year. Typically, Congress adjourns before Thanksgiving to allow the nation to feel safe at least for the month of December. Reid was supposedly going to let the Senate go home at the end of this week. (The newly elected Congress takes over Jan. 5.) If the Congress adjourned at the end of this week, it was going to be hard to shoe-horn the DREAM Act amnesty debate and vote in between all the giant have-to business. But now, it looks like the Senate is staying in session until next week and maybe until next Thursday the 23rd. Bad news for us.
Amnesty vote unlikely before LATE this week. Yesterday, we were saying the amnesty vote might happen as early as Wednesday (tomorrow). With the extended Senate session, it is difficult to see the amnesty coming up before this weekend and probably next week. That gives the various contingents of illegal-alien students and clergy coalitions a lot more time to lay guilt trips on Undeclared and squishy-NO Senators back home. More bad news.
We have only one chance instead of two to defeat on cloture votes. Previously, Sen. Reid had to get 60 votes to pass cloture to START debate on the DREAM amnesty. If we lost that one, we would have another chance to keep him from getting 60 votes to pass cloture to STOP debate and have a final vote. That has changed. Because the House has sent over its own DREAM amnesty, Reid can bring it up for debate at any time WITHOUT a cloture vote. We expect that he will immediately file cloture to STOP the debate even before it begins. Once he does that, he can't hold the cloture vote until two days later. This isn't a big deal, but the change does disadvantage us somewhat from our ability to kill the amnesty.
TOP SENATE TARGETS
UNDECLARED BUT LEANING YES
202-224-3121
ALASKA--Sen. Murkowski (R): No statement on her web site and no media quotes. Daily Kos says multiple whips counts have her as a likely supporter. Most of the PRO-amnesty groups are counting her as a YES.
LOUISIANA--Sen. Landrieu (D): She indicates that the House bill needs to be considered because it has some changes (suggesting that she will claim the House bill closes loopholes). She talks of major concern for the "children."
MICHIGAN--Sen. Stabenow (D): She was a certain YES on cloture to start debate. But she has not indicated whether she would vote YES to end debate and thus pass the bill. She is up for re-election in 2012 in a state that turned sharply Republican in the 2010 elections. Now (as noted above), we are facing only a cloture vote to END debate. PRO-amnesty forces count her as theirs. But I don't think she has to be at all.
MISSOURI--Sen. McCaskill (D): McCaskill has a wide-ranging interview on her web site. Appears to be leaning toward yes but its non-committal. She says (1) we have never punished children, (2) this is a different bill than the one I voted against, and (3) if this bill is more narrowly drawn, I will take a serious look at it. She needs to be reminded that any amnesty support will certainly show up when she tries to be re-elected in 2012 by a state that went sharply Republican in the 2010 elections.
NORTH DAKOTA--Sen. Dorgan (D): He was a certain YES on cloture to start debate. But he has not indicated whether he would vote YES to end debate and thus pass the bill. Now (as noted above), we are facing only a cloture vote to END debate. In the past, he has been one of our most reliable NO votes on amnesty. But he is retiring and acting squishy. PRO-amnesty forces are counting him as theirs. I don't think that has to be true at all.
UNDECLARED BUT LEANING NO
202-224-3121
These Senators' staff continually tell our members that they will vote NO. But for some reason, all media and political whip counts are calling them Undeclared. Thank them and encourage them to go ahead and publicly declare themselves a NO.
MONTANA--Sen. Baucus (D):
NORTH CAROLINA--Sen. Hagan (D)
NORTH DAKOTA--Sen. Conrad (D)
UNDECLARED AND TOTALLY UNKNOWN
202-224-3121
WEST VIRGINIA--Sen. Manchin (D)
DECLARED NO BUT OF SOME CONCERN
202-224-3121
MAINE--Sen. Collins (R)
OHIO--Sen. Voinovich (R)
Please make those calls. We can win this, like we have beaten every amnesty in every year since 2000.
KEY MESSAGES IN ALL PHONE CALLS TO SENATORS WHO ARE SYMPATHETIC TO THE DREAM ACT POSTER CHILDREN
Keep this in mind about Senators who are Undeclared, or who say they will vote NO but are squishy, or who say they will vote YES but are potentially movable to NO:
They all are sympathetic to the poster children of the DREAM Act -- those are the minority of potential amnesty recipients who were brought to the U.S. by their parents when they were infants or toddlers and who are now good high school or college students.
You will gain nothing with the Senators we are trying to reach today by being negative about these students.
Instead, you have to approach these Senators on the basis of practicality. Perhaps the poster children do deserve consideration in the future but not before the enforcement is put in place to stop future illegal immigration. Your argument is that it is not possible in this rushed Lame Duck session to create and pass an amnesty that is limited to the deserving and which will stop future unfair illegal labor competition to unemployed Americans.
My thought is that it would be helpful today for every phone call to make the same pitches to Senators who are sympathetic to the poster children of the DREAM amnesty:
No matter how sympathetic these students may be, you can't give out another mass amnesty without fixing the weak enforcement that allowed their parents to bring them here and keep them here for years and years. DREAM has ZERO enforcement.
The DREAM Act amnesty includes no requirement that jobs be shut off to the millions of future illegal aliens who will bring THEIR children and put them in this exact same predicament that DREAM puports to resolve. It is totally irresponsible to the 22 million unemployed Americans to give out a big amnesty without requiring mandatory verification to keep illegal aliens from holding jobs.
SENS. BROWN (R-Mass.) & LeMEIUX (R-Fla.) SHOW THE PRACTICAL RESPONSE TO EMOTIONAL APPEALS
Perhaps no two Senators have been subjected to as much emotional pressure to bow to amnesty. The PRO-amnesty forces have bet the farm on moving these two because of special political circumstances in their states.
In its report of Sen. Brown's declaration of opposition to DREAM amnesty yesterday, the Associated Press reported: Brown's remarks came as a coalition of educators, religious leaders and immigrant advocates made a last ditch appeal Monday asking him to support the proposal. Brown also had been a target of a national campaign by advocates.
For months, supporters of the bill and illegal immigrant college students, who call themselves "DREAMers," have staged sit-ins, rallies and marches outside Brown's office. Students have left hundreds of signed letters from supporters and young immigrants who said they would enlisted in the military if the bill passed.
Imagine if you were under that kind of emotional pressure? Imagine having all those clergy suggesting that you are inhumane, anti-Hispanic and even immoral if you don't legalize these young adult illegal aliens!
I have to tip my hat to Sen Brown for having the confidence of his convictions and a sense of that morality of standing up for 22 million Americans who want a full-time job but who can't find one. He once again declared his opposition to the DREAM amnesty at a Salvation Army charity event in downtown Boston!!!!!
Sen. LeMieux has been under similar pressures. After the Senate voted to postpone the amnesty vote last week, he put out this statement:
I am very sympathetic to the young people who entered our country illegally by no fault of their own, but I will not support consideration of the DREAM Act without addressing border security. I recently visited the US-Mexico border in Arizona and witnessed the progress toward securing the border. Fully funding and replicating our security successes across the border would allow us to address the DREAM act. However, we are still far from achieving a level of border security that is acceptable to me or to the American people.
I would have liked to see Sen. LeMieux set a higher standard of pre-conditions, including mandatory workplace verification and an end to chain migration, but his standard works just fine for the few weeks until he leaves office.
This is the line in the sand you are asking every Senator to draw . . .
. . . . . The line is that whatever one's feelings about the merits of some illegal aliens for an amnesty, no amnesty should be even talked about until the border is secure against continued mass illegal immigration and our jobs are secure from illegal aliens being able to take them from Americans.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR PICKING UP THAT PHONE ONCE AGAIN,
This may be a good time for you to make sure that you've let us know all of the areas you are interested in. In order to further customize the type of alerts you receive click here http://www.numbersusa.com/survey?action=longlist
As a NumbersUSA subscriber, you will receive occasional emails about immigration-related opportunities. If you want to increase or reduce the frequency of these emails, click here and choose from Total Activism, Moderate Activism, or Limited Activism at the bottom of your registration form: http://www.numbersusa.com/user
NumbersUSA - relies upon individuals like you to reach its goal of an environmentally sustainable and economically just America.
Numbers USA
1601 N. Kent Street
Suite 1100
Arlington, VA 22209
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
