Free Republic

The confirmations of two African-American judicial candidates in Florida are being held up by U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Congressional Black Caucus leaders are demanding action for what they call negligence and obstruction on the part of the senator. Brian Davis, a nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District, and William Thomas, a candidate for the U.S District Court for the Southern District, both made it through Florida’s Federal Judicial Nominating Commission, which routinely makes recommendations to state senators who meet the candidates and send letters of initial approval to the White House. Then, the president nominates...

The circumstances and aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting took the center stage Wednesday at the first ever meeting of the Congressional Black Men and Boys Caucus, aimed at addressing issues affecting black boys and their growth. "We have to train them [black boys] because there's nobody really out there to train them to be good men," said Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., pointing to an education and mentoring program in Miami-Dade County schools. "These boys are not to be feared, they are meant to be loved." The caucus, first formed in March, is aimed at educating members of Congress on...

During today’s IRS hearing before the House Government Oversight and Reform Committee, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) took a detour that she may regret. Holmes Norton lauded the IRS officials who were testifying before the committee, which at that point were Carter Hull and Elizabeth Hofacre. Hull and Hofacre are among the IRS agents who were involved in scrutinizing Tea Party and conservative groups. Both testified that they were acting on orders from their superiors in Washington. Hofacre worked in the Cincinnati office that IRS Washington official Lois Lerner blamed for the abuse. Lerner broke the story in a conference...

April 23, 2013 New Congressional Quest: End Prison Phone Call Price Gouging Bridget Johnson The Congressional Black Caucus Working Group on Prison Telecomm Reform is protesting high call costs for phone-homers behind bars. The CBC group will hold a press conference with former inmates and family members “to expose the often exorbitant rates that prisoners and their families are being charged for telephone calls and to announce the CBC response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to resolve the issue after more than a decade of delay,” according to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D)...

House Democrats on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee used their opening statements today to blame Republicans for the lack of security in Benghazi, Libya, during a hearing on the security breaches surrounding the attack on the U.S. consulate last month, which killed four Americans, including the ambassador, and occurred on the anniversary of 9/11. “The chairman has said that our committee will examine not only the Libya attack but security at outposts across the Middle East,” said Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who called the hearing today on Capitol Hill. “Mr. Chairman I fully...

Democrats in House of Reps. joined J Street in supporting Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions Seventy-four Democrats in the House of Representatives have joined the dovish J Street organization in supporting the Obama administration's attempt to force Israel into making painful concessions to the Palestinian Authority. “In our view, support for a two-state resolution is inseparable from such support for Israel, its special relationship with the United States, and its very survival as a democratic homeland for the Jewish people,” the letter said. Seven Jewish members signed the letter, including Reps. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), John...

The representative for a district with higher-than-average rates of obesity-related conditions will return from recess a week from Monday to reintroduce her Lifelong Improvements in Food and Exercise (LIFE) Act. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) will say on the House floor, according to prepared remarks, that her bill is intended to tackle a health problem “that cannot be remedied through the health care system alone.” The LIFE Act would give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention $25 million “for a coordinated national effort to reverse increasingly sedentary lifestyles and diets that are high in fat and sugar.” That...

If nothing else, Dennis Kucinich is consistent. He wanted to push articles of impeachment against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney over the Iraq war, which his own party’s leadership squelched in the summer of 2008 — when Bush’s term had all but expired anyway. Kucinich and John Conyers instead had to settle for “impugnment hearings,” which one witness called “slightly demented.” Now we have another military action from another president, this one without the cover of a Congressional authorization to use military force, and Kucinich wants to crank up the impeachment process, pun most certainly intended: A hard-core group...

If nothing else, Dennis Kucinich is consistent. He wanted to push articles of impeachment against George W. Bush and Dick Cheney over the Iraq war, which his own party’s leadership squelched in the summer of 2008 — when Bush’s term had all but expired anyway. Kucinich and John Conyers instead had to settle for “impugnment hearings,” which one witness called “slightly demented.”Now we have another military action from another president, this one without the cover of a Congressional authorization to use military force, and Kucinich wants to crank up the impeachment process, pun most certainly intended: A hard-core group of...

A hard-core group of liberal House Democrats is questioning the constitutionality of U.S. missile strikes against Libya, with one lawmaker raising the prospect of impeachment during a Democratic Caucus conference call on Saturday. Reps. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Donna Edwards (Md.), Mike Capuano (Mass.), Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Maxine Waters (Calif.), Rob Andrews (N.J.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.) “all strongly raised objections to the constitutionality of the president’s actions” during that call, said two Democratic lawmakers who took part. Kucinich, who wanted to bring impeachment articles against both former President George W. Bush...

You may have varying opinions on Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), but one thing is always certain: he speaks his mind. For example, in a 2007 Presidential debate, Kucinich stated that he saw a UFO and that it "moved him." Now he is saying something new: President Obama must be impeached. During the Presidency of George W. Bush, Kucinich called multiple times for his impeachment. Certainly being consistent, Kucinich wondered aloud about the impeachment of President Barack Obama on the grounds that the President's campaign against Libya is illegal. The Congressman "strongly raised objections to the constitutionality of the president’s actions”...

John Boehner could end up doing double duty as House speaker and a house cleaner if there’s a government shutdown this week. While a shutdown would freeze many of the federal government’s operations, it would also bring “non-essential” functions of the District of Columbia’s government – including trash collection – to a standstill, and that has some residents of the capital city steamed. A group of District residents emerging on Facebook is planning to bring their trash to House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) Capitol Hill home. The group, called “If Boehner shuts down the government I am taking my trash...

Via the DSA: WHO ARE THE SOCIALIST IN ELECTED OFFICE TODAY: Q: How many members of the U.S. Congress are also members of the DSA? A: Seventy Q: How many of the DSA members sit on the Judiciary Committee? A: Eleven: John Conyers [Chairman of the Judiciary Committee], Tammy Baldwin, Jerrold Nadler, Luis Gutierrez, Melvin Watt, Maxine Waters, Hank Johnson, Steve Cohen, Barbara Lee, Robert Wexler, Linda Sanchez [there are 23 Democrats on the Judiciary Committee of which eleven, almost half, are now members of the DSA]. Q: Who are these members of 111th Congress? A: See the listing below...

Co/Vice-Chairs Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-07) Lynn Woolsey (CA-06) Diane Watson (CA-33) Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX-18) Mazie Hirono (HI-02) Dennis Kucinich (OH-10) Senate Bernie Sanders (VT) House Neil Abercrombie (HI-01) Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) Xavier Becerra (CA-31) Madeleine Bordallo (GU-AL) Robert Brady (PA-01) Corrine Brown (FL-03) Michael Capuano (MA-08) André Carson (IN-07) Donna Christensen (VI-AL) Yvette Clarke (NY-11) William "Lacy" Clay (MO-01) Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05) Steve Cohen (TN-09) John Conyers (MI-14) Elijah Cummings (MD-07) Danny Davis (IL-07) Peter DeFazio (OR-04) Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) Donna F. Edwards (MD-04) Keith Ellison (MN-05) Sam Farr (CA-17) Chaka Fattah (PA-02) Bob Filner (CA-51) Barney Frank (MA-04) Marcia...

This is really funny stuff. I don't think Eleanor is playing along, I think she really is getting angry during this interview. Either way, it is very entertaining. Here's the link: Colbert Interview

They are still virtual no-shows. The activist old media is putting itself on the sidelines with a Democrat Congresswoman who was caught on tape squeezing a lobbyist for cash. They will be pulled kicking and screaming into this story by the people Dan Rather called “pajama journalists.” I think we’ve seen this story before.

Eleanor Holmes Norton is stark raving mad. The congressional delegate from the District of Columbia accused her fellow Democrat, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, of "selling out" last week because he supports a Bush administration-backed school choice proposal that would free thousands of poor black students from rotten public schools. The D.C. School Choice Act, sponsored by Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would provide $45 million over five years for means-tested educational scholarships for up to 8,300 students in the beleaguered D.C. public school system. President Bush has earmarked a total of $75 million for similar programs across the country. Mayor...

10/24/2007 By LAURIE KELLMAN / Associated Press The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Judge Leslie Southwick to the federal appeals court in New Orleans after Republicans overpowered objections by Democrats who said he wasn't sensitive enough to the region's history of race relations. The 59-38 vote, a rare Republican victory in a Democratic-led Senate, was sealed after the nomination survived its main obstacle, a test tally moments earlier in which a dozen Democrats sided with Republicans to thwart a filibuster. That left Democrats without the power to block Southwick's confirmation, even after a heated debate that raised the pain of civil...

Washington’s representative to Congress said Saturday she feels like the city was the victim of a “sellout” by Democrats in Friday night’s spending negotiations after the District of Columbia was the focus for two of the biggest policy fights. President Obama signed off on restricting the city from using its own taxpayer money to fund abortions, and agreed to restore the city’s school voucher program, which is popular with parents but opposed by many elected officials. “We knew that the House Republicans were on the attack when they took our vote in the Committee of the Whole on the first...

D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is no exception. The Democratic non-voting representative for the District of Columbia told MyFoxDC.com that Congress should go "straight to hell" for trying to meddle in D.C. affairs. Norton was referring to a provision in the stopgap budget bill House Republicans are pushing that would ban federal and local taxpayer dollars in the District of Columbia from being used to pay for abortions. "We are absolutely outraged. This is the functional equivalent of bombing innocent civilians,"