Free Republic

Pete Stark's days in Congress might be numbered The nearly four-decade reign of Rep. Pete Stark, D-Fremont, is about to end. Stark finished first among three candidates in the 15th Congressional District, but the message of discontent with his boorish and increasingly erratic approach to his job as a public servant could not have been louder. Nearly 59 percent of voters in the freshly realigned district preferred someone other than Stark: 36 percent for Eric Swalwell, a 31-year-old prosecutor and Dublin City Council member, and 22 percent for Chris Pareja, an independent who ran a spirited low-budget campaign. In years...

The Washington Blade, D.C.'s main LGBT news outlet, is reporting that Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has placed Chief of Staff Murat Gokcigdem on leave following questions about a 2010 e-mail... staffer Chris Crowe was seeking a letter of recommendation from Johnson for a position in Obama's Treasury Department...."It is my personal belief that he has contacts there," Gokcigdem wrote. "And they, as a group watching and supporting each other if you know what I mean."

Artur Davis got THUMPED in the Dhimmicrat primary in Alabama for governor. Davis is (which soon will be "was") my congresscritter, and no one can be happier to see him out of office than me. Of course, his likely replacement, Terri Sewell, is likely to be no better, but WTH? Davis is OUT>

I've been trying to reach Eshoo about Health Care. Take a look at the long list of hard-hitting townhall meetings she has lined up in during the August recess to address constituents' concerns about the major issues of the day: On Wednesday, August 26th, Rep. Anna G. Eshoo will host a Town Hall Meeting to discuss High Speed Rail. Experts from the High Speed Rail Authority and Caltrain will make presentations and answer questions. In November, 2008, Californians passed Proposition 1A, the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century. How this will impact local communities has...

Locked in a tight race with Republican Jeb Bradley Democrat incumbent Carol Shea Porter ignores a constituent's plea for help. She votes 100% with Pelosi.

Accusing U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler of being more of a Maryland resident than a Floridian, the six-term Democrat's challengers in the Nov. 4 general election say he can't sufficiently grasp area residents' concerns about home ownership costs because he isn't paying local property taxes or rents. The criticism follows news reports that Wexler is the only member of Congress from Florida who doesn't own a home in the district, and therefore pays no Florida property taxes. "When he says he feels for you and understands your pain of high property taxes, well, he may feel for you but he doesn't...

The bill, formerly HR.1302, has passed the House and will soon hit the floor of the senate as S.2433. A brief summation: the United States has to end world poverty. 7% of our GDP has to be allocated to this end.

Charges of racism and dirty politics filled the airwaves and jammed phone lines Wednesday after a public showdown between a group of Baptist pastors and U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen. The Memphis Democrat's appearance at Tuesday's meeting of the Memphis Baptist Ministerial Association was a hot topic on talk radio, said numerous pastors who also said they fielded calls all day on the subject. The discussions followed an excoriation of Cohen by some black ministers for his support for a federal hate crimes bill. But the freshman congressman's endorsement of that bill was eclipsed by charges that Cohen cannot adequately represent...

TRACY - Middle ground went unclaimed Thursday night as Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, sparred with Democratic challenger Jerry McNerney for the 11th District House seat in a charged, partisan debate before a lively crowd, many of them McNerney supporters eager to shake the seven-term GOP stalwart with shouts and accusations. The debate drew a crowd of more than 300 people to watch the two candidates trade barbs from low plastic chairs on a grade-school stage in the heart of "Pombo Country." It was the lone debate between the two candidates vying for a House district that stretches from Danville to...

John Doolittle is with his people. The sixth most powerful Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives speaks to the Auburn Dam Council and an enthusiastic audience. The advocacy group shares his long, unquenched drive for a flood control and hydroelectric dam on the American River. Loyal constituents clamor for his attention. "You work so hard," Alice Ferrari, a Lincoln cattle rancher and Placer County resident since 1934, tells him. "You have a vision like the pioneers." At this gathering, John Doolittle is as unbeatable as ever. He's the congressman who hasn't failed to win re-election with less than 60...

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush was arrested Thursday during a protest rally at the Sudanese embassy accusing the government of the African nation of practicing genocide. Rush was led away in handcuffs by U.S. Secret Service officers to a police van after having blocked the embassy's entrance while shouting, "Power to the people! Power to Sudan!" Within 30 minutes, the Chicago Democrat was released from a Metropolitan Police Department station on $50 bond, said the congressman's spokeswoman, Tasha Harris. Rush was booked on misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly, Secret Service spokeswoman Ann Roman said. Earlier this week, Rep....

6/7/04: AWB renewal now on Senate calendar. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has once again introduced legislation to renew the so-called "assault weapons" ban. S.2498 was introduced last week, and, by using a "nuclear option" referred to as Rule XIV, has gotten the bill placed on the Senate calendar. As a Senate educational article on the subject puts it, "Most bills are routinely referred to the committee with appropriate jurisdiction as soon as they are introduced. But if a Senator plans to introduce a bill and believes that the committee to which it would be referred will be unsympathetic, Rule XIV...

Members of Congress often use weekend plane trips back to their districts as a way to unwind after a hectic bout of lawmaking. Which could explain why Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) demanded a whole row of seats to herself on a recent Continental flight from Washington to Houston. Jackson Lee usually gets first-class upgrades from the airline. But on this particular flight first class was full. After cabin attendants delivered the bad news and showed her to the coach section, Jackson Lee exploded, said one witness. “When she saw that she had to sit with other people, she started...