Free Republic

I received the following e-mail from my Congress critter today that may be interesting to a lot of you so I thought I’d post. This is from Congressman Steve Buyer (R – 4th District Indiana). He is a member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce: ISSUE POSITION STATEMENT: THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF (OCS) “The OCS is located off-shore of America’s coasts (East and West coast and in the Gulf of Mexico). Although portions of the OCS are currently available for energy production leases, over 80% of the OCS remains off-limits to U.S. production. According to the U.S. Mineral Management...

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Billionaire David Geffen has offered to buy the Los Angeles Times newspaper for $2 billion in cash, but parent company Tribune Co. has declined to accept or reject the bid, according to media reports Thursday. TRB rebuffed the bid because it is still seeking offers for the entire company, the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times reported. Tribune began the process of soliciting bids in September, and late last month extended a self-imposed deadline to complete its strategic review to sometime in the first quarter of 2007. Analysts said the extension indicated that the company is...

Democrat candidate for congress David Sanders is calling on incumbent republican Steve Buyer to take part in a series of debates in the fourth congressional district. Sanders said Buyer has refused to commit to a public forum to discuss such issues as veterans benefits and military deployments. Buyer took part in one debate with Sanders two years ago in Plainfield. The congressman said he is not sure if he'll do it again. "I'll just continue to tell America what I want to do for our country. Someone who wants to be mean spirited, I'll just keep them at large. I've...

Our local TV station wants to give Congressman Steve Buyer's opponent some free air time. David Sanders has little money or support, however he is a “East Coast” liberal, so the local media are attracted to him. The poll asks, How interested are you in seeing a live televised debate on News Channel 18 between incumbent 4th District Congressman Steve Buyer and his Democrat challenger, David Sanders? If they get a large percentage in favor they will try to press Buyer to debate. Buyer has nothing to gain by this debate, Sanders on the other hand gets some free help...

A proposal to end the long-standing practice of veterans groups addressing a joint session of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committees is an insult to all who have fought, sacrificed and died to defend the Constitution, according to the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). And in a strongly worded letter to House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), the DAV has urged him to continue the joint hearings as an invaluable tool in formulating public policy toward America’s veterans. Chairman Buyer recently announced that veterans service organizations will no longer have the opportunity to present testimony before a joint...

Egypt has become the developing world's third largest buyer of weapons over the last four years, according to a leading US official research service. According to the annual report issued by the Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress, only China and India recorded more arms transfer agreements, thus making Egypt the principal arms buyer in the Middle East. The report issued last week in Washington said Egypt recorded $6.5 billion worth of weapons purchases from 2001 to 2004. Israel bought $4.4b. during the same period and Saudi Arabia recorded $3.8b. For Egypt, which receives $1.3b. in...

Are you really a veteran? I asked that question in an opinion piece published here at Military.com last month. Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, has proposed sweeping changes to VA benefits. Buyer does not believe that “a veteran is a veteran” and has said so in no uncertain terms. As you might expect, the changes are not for the positive. The driving force for these changes is the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission. The following is from the VA website: "In November 2003, the President signed Public Law 108-136 that established the Veterans' Disability...

Senior aides to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld thwarted Gulf War veteran Rep. Steve Buyer’s (R-Ind.) chance to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom, The Hill has learned. The intervention from the upper echelons of the Pentagon ended a saga in which confusion reigned over whether Buyer had actually been mobilized — or was even, as a congressman, allowed to go on active service — and ended with Army Secretary Thomas White’s rescinding a mobilization order that never existed.It all began on a Thursday in mid-March when an official in the office of the chief of the Army Reserve informed Buyer,...

<p>The Food and Drug Administration (search) announced last week a new program allowing food manufacturers to make health claims on food labels. The FDA says it wants to encourage “science-based labeling” and “competition for healthier dietary choices.”</p> <p>Fittingly, nut sellers are the first to be allowed to make health claims under the FDA program.</p>