As the Wall Street Journal notes, this has some historical significance. Sen. Stevens is a sitting senator, one of only five in all of history to be convicted of a crime, and the first since 1981. Stevens is 84 years old — soon to be 85 on Nov. 15 — and is the longest-serving Republican with almost 40 years in the Senate … Read More
Jesse Helms — Leader Against HIV?
What is Elizabeth Dole smoking? From the Congressional Record dated July 14, 2008: SA 5074. Mrs. DOLE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2731, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 to provide assistance to foreign countries to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie … Read More
War Powers
I know the Constitution is, in places, ambiguous, but this language seems pretty straightforward: The Congress shall have power… to declare war… That’s Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution. It’s the "War Powers Clause". The dirty little secret is that Congress, in all its history, has only declared war five times: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), … Read More
Gonzales: Another Bit Of Perjury Yesterday
This centers around a meeting held on March 10, 2004 with members of the Bush Administration and the "Gang of 8", members of Congress who head up intelligence committees. The topic discussed was — well, that’s the issue. Here’s what Alberto Gonzales said under oath on Tuesday: At a heated Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, Gonzales repeatedly testified that the … Read More
Obstructionist GOP
In 2004, Americans elected a Democratic majority in Congress. What was the GOP response? To tie up bills, filibuster, and engage in other parliamentarian tactics to prevent reforms from even coming to a vote. How bad is it? Really bad. At the present pace, the Republicans will be three times more obstructionist than any Congress in recent history. Margaret Talev … Read More
Gonzales Lied — Blatently Lied — Under Oath, To Congress
Lying to Congress is a crime: As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005. Six days earlier, the FBI sent … Read More
It’s A Family Affair
CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) has released a devastating report on government nepotism — how Congresspersons are using their positions to financially benefit their family members. Highlights: 96 members of Congress used their positions to financially benefit members of their family (44 Democrats and 52 Republicans) 64 paid family members through their campaign committees or PACs (26 … Read More
“I’m Not Whining” He Whined
That’s the best line from a Dana Milbank piece about the GOP returning to the 110th Congress, where they find themselves not in the majority after several years of bribery and page-seducing. The whiner is Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.). Yup — already the GOP is complaining that they aren’t allowed to drive the car anymore, and the session hasn’t even … Read More
South Dakota Law
Here you go: 12-11-1. Special election to fill congressional vacancy–Time of election of representative. If a vacancy occurs in the office of a senator or representative in the United States Congress it shall be the duty of the Governor within ten days of the occurrence, to issue a proclamation setting the date of and calling for a special election for … Read More
Mark Foley Report
Ethics Report says that the House Ethics Committee didn’t break any rules, but still were negeligent in not protecting the House pages from the very creepy Mark Foley. The full Ethics Report is here, but if you want to read 104 pages of AOL instant messages from Mark Foley, go straight here (PDF format). And emails here (also PDF format). … Read More
Congress To Work Five Days A Week
Yup. Democrats think that our elected representatives should work harder, and that has some Republicans throwing a fit: Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the Maryland Democrat who will become House majority leader and is writing the schedule for the next Congress, said members should expect longer hours than the brief week they have grown accustomed to […] "Keeping us up here … Read More
Prager v. Ellison, Part Two
Shorter Dennis Prager: You know this controversy that came at my suggestion that Rep. Keith Ellison (a Muslim) get sworn in to Congress by using the Bible rather than his holy book, the Kuran? It would all go away if Rep. Ellison simply does what I suggested. Earlier posts: Dennis Prager: Clueless About America UPDATE: World o’Crap provides another shorter … Read More
Dennis Prager: Clueless About America
A view days ago, I linked to a debate between an noted agnostic and evangelical columnist Dennis Prager on the subject of the existence of God. The debate was civilized and I bent over backwards to give Prager as much credit as I could possibly muster (even though his best argument for the existence of God boiled down to "It’s … Read More
Who Supports The Troops? Republicans Or Democrats?
The answer is Democrats. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America — a non-partisan veterans’ group — took a look at 324 legislative votes in the last five years which affected American troops and veterans. Legislative proposals included veterans’ benefits, healthcare, and medical research dedicated towards injured soldiers. Based on these votes, IAVA calculated which senators and congressmen had a … Read More
Vernon Robinson Goes Off The Deep End
North Carolina Congressman Vernon "The Black Jesse Helsm" Robinson has always been weird and corrupt. But this is just plain bizarre: Vernon Robinson, who has run a series of brash advertisements about the two-term Democratic congressman, charged that Miller wants to import homosexuals to the United States and supported scientific studies that would pay teenage girls to watch pornography. "Those … Read More