Free Republic

The Constitutional Structure For Limited And Balanced Government The Constitution was devised with an ingenious and intricate built-in system of checks and balances to guard the people's liberty against combinations of government power. It structured the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary separate and wholly independent as to function, but coor­dinated for proper operation, with safeguards to prevent usurpations of power. Only by balancing each against the other two could freedom be preserved, said John Adams. Another writer of the day summarized clearly the reasons for such checks and balances: "If the LEGISLATIVE and JUDICIAL powers are united, the MAKER of the...

  Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner   By James TillmanNovember 6, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - According to House Republican Leader John Boehner, the government-run health care bill being considered in Congress would include "a monthly abortion premium ... [to] be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan."On his blog Boehner states that this premium "will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services."He continues: "Section 213 [of the bill] describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess...

Watching the House of Representatives on late-night C-SPAN, you might have any number of reactions, including seppuku-inducing boredom. Depending on who's talking, you might also feel disgust, rage, contempt or, in rare cases, inspiration. But one reaction you probably won't have is: "Gosh, if only there were more of these jokers." That's too bad. Because what our political system may be lacking more than anything else is enough members of Congress. No, really. Seriously, stop laughing. Except for a brief effort to accommodate Alaska and Hawaii, the size of the House has been frozen at 435 members since 1911.

"Thank you for letting me know of your concerns about health care legislation moving through Congress. I understand - and share - your support for our existing employer based system for workers and Medicare for retirees. Unfortunately, (I AGREE WITH YOU BUT I KNOW BEST FOR YOU) that system is coming under such large and growing strains that its long standing success at giving Americans access to the best health care in the world will be seriously threatened in the coming years. Already, far too many of us fall through the cracks. In my Congressional district alone, 117,000 West Virginians...

Representative Bobby Bright says you are an extremist that doesn't matter.

Something occurred to me after watching all of the footage of the various town hall meetings and the citizen's vocal reaction to what their elected representatives are doing. These 50 or 100 people are really an insignificant percentage of the congress person's constituents. Unions members, television advertising, slick marketing, ACORN and Obama-bots will more than make up for even a relatively large group of pissed off citizens. Today, each representative has 700,000 constituents. That is not the way it has always been. The framers of the constitution intended that number to be between 50,000 and 60,000. The number of congressional...

Republicans have a choice. Are we going to be the party of political expediency or are we going to be the party driven by principle? Many have argued that if Republicans pacify the Democrats and their liberal ways, Independents will naturally flow to the Republican side of the aisle. This was in part the John McCain strategy. It failed because it demonstrated that the party was rudderless on principle and had nothing unique to offer voters. Sen. McCain’s effort to join Barack Obama in supporting the $700 billion bailout further demonstrated to America and the Republican base that there was...

Politicians vis-a-vis Representatives Politicians only ask two questions when asked to take action. Politicians ask how will this action help me get elected or stay in office? or How will this hurt my getting elected or staying in office?

The U.S Constitution "originally" laid out the separation of powers between the federal government and the State governments in the first paragraph of article 1 section 3. How this paragraph accomplished that goal will become clear later in this article. This paragraph states: "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the LEGISLATURE thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote." Then in Article I, section 4 we also find this: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each...

Dear FRiends, I have been thinking of a way to keep momentum up, right away (and get some real political hay behind the movement): I do not live in any of these 19 or so states, but some of you do (and it could be worthwhile and channel the tea party energy into them): ESPECIALLY IN STATES LIKE California or New Jersey, which some of you live in.. Here goes: WHY NOT "recall" some of your more problem legislators, creation of petition drives to recally your villiage idiots would go a long way toward remedying our problems as a nation:...

The House of Representatives has passed an expanded version of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and made it easier for illegal aliens to access the program's benefits. HR 2, the new version of SCHIP, weakens verification requirements. Those who enroll will be required to show only an easily forged Social Security card -- not secure documents proving U.S. citizenship. The legislation also extends benefits to non-citizen children of legal immigrants. The SCHIP bill is designed to provide health coverage to low-income children, a laudable

It's a recession version of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Rep. Jason Chaffetz, representing Utah's 3rd congressional district, promises to vote like a fiscal conservative and to live like one. Freshman Congressman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is living more like a college freshman than a member of Congress. He plans to sleep in his Capitol Hill office on this small cot to save money on rent. (ABC News)Instead of renting a Washington, D.C., apartment, the Utah Republican plans to live in his Capitol Hill office to save money, while his family stays in their home in Alpine, Utah. "You work hard...

Time and again we’ve heard about the lost jobs and economic impact of failing to bail out the beleaguered American auto manufacturers. But little mention has been made of the consequences of going through with the bailout, and how such an action would be viewed by other Americans. In an interview following a Dec. 10 press conference where he and four other senators aired their opposition to the proposed bailout deal struck by congressional leaders and the White House (and approved by the U.S. House of Representatives 237-170 that evening), Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., warned that the perception that some...

Sen. Jim DeMint says unfair union influence and the bailout culture will anger many Americans. By Jeff Poor Business & Media Institute 12/11/2008 1:28:37 PM Time and again we’ve heard about the lost jobs and economic impact of failing to bail out the beleaguered American auto manufacturers. But little mention has been made of the consequences of going through with the bailout, and how such an action would be viewed by other Americans. In an interview following a Dec. 10 press conference where he and four other senators aired their opposition to the proposed bailout deal struck by congressional leaders...

Conservative commentator Walter Williams has written about the need for more representatives in the U.S. House. He observes that "restricting the number of representatives confers significant monopoly power that goes a long way toward explaining the stranglehold the two parties have and the high incumbent success rates. It might also explain the power of vested interest groups to influence congressional decisions."

Join Honest and eeevil as we speak tonight at 8 pm est, with the Honorable Lou Barletta of Hazelton, Pa., now running for U.S. House of Representatives. See http://loubarletta.com . Listen as Mayor Barletta fills us in on his perspective on the latest attempts to shove Amnesty on the unwilling citizens of the U.S. Hear the Mayor's live response to the incredible admissions his opponent made relative to Demrat plans and the War. Go to http://honestconservative-cookiedough.blogspot.com and you will see a list of links related to tonights show. Our borders are still open folks! WE will also be talking to...

Many people do not realize that our total number of Representatives in the U.S. House has been limited to 435 ever since 1913...

Representative Anthony D. Weiner, Democrat of Brooklyn and Queens, drives a 2008 Chevrolet Impala, leased for $219 a month. Representative Michael R. McNulty, a Democrat from the Albany area, gets around in a 2007 Mercury Mariner hybrid, a sport utility vehicle, for $816 a month. “It gets a little better than 25 miles a gallon,” Mr. McNulty said. Charles B. Rangel, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, is not so caught up in the question of gas mileage. He leases a 2004 Cadillac DeVille for $777.54 a month. The car is 17 feet long with a 300-horsepower...

The 308-116 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed a global AIDS bill authorizing $50 billion in spending over five years. A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill. Voting yes were 230 Democrats and 78 Republicans. Voting no were 0 Democrats and 116 Republicans. X denotes those not voting. There are 4 vacancies in the 435-member House. ALABAMA Democrats — Cramer, Y; Davis, Y. Republicans — Aderholt, Y; Bachus, Y; Bonner, Y; Everett, N; Rogers, Y. ALASKA Republicans — Young, Y. ARIZONA Democrats — Giffords, Y; Grijalva, Y; Mitchell, Y; Pastor, Y. Republicans — Flake, N;...

Facts Please, Just the Facts : Politicians should use taxpayer funds to inform, not self-promote by Clint Bolick, In a state with subsidized elections and draconian limits on campaign contributions, every advantage counts. One in particular is a whopper: self-promotion by elected officials at taxpayer expense. The abuse is ubiquitous and transcends party lines. Publications and public-service announcements that happen to prominently bear the name and likeness of an elected official are all too frequent. The officials defend the need for the publications, which misses the point. However legitimate a particular publication, the photo and name are wholly gratuitous, providing...

For Immediate ReleaseDecember 7, 2007 President's Radio Address   President's Radio Address  Audio  En Español       Fact Sheet: Helping American Families Keep Their Homes      In Focus: Homeownership THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today I want to talk to you about some important policies affecting taxpayers and homeowners this holiday season. On Thursday, the United States Senate passed a bill to fix the alternative minimum tax, or AMT. The AMT was designed to ensure that the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT decades ago, it was not indexed for inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax...

Abstract: "The Irony of Populism: The Republican Shift and the Inevitability of American Aristocracy" analyzes the shift in the role of the Supreme Court following the movement towards a democratic Senate which culminated in the Seventeenth Amendment. The Supreme Court's shift is presented as the inevitable result of the system of mixed government that underlies the constitutional order, which orders American Government into democratic, aristocratic, and monarchical parts. While in the original conception of the constitution the Senate was the aristocratic part, the Senate would become part of the democratic part with the Seventeenth Amendment and prior procedural changes. Into...

From The Center for Constitutional Studies Democratizing the Constitution: The Failure of the Seventeenth AmendmentC. H. Hoebeke*[From HUMANITAS, Volume IX, No. 2, 1996 © National Humanities Institute, Washington, DC USA] It was with no small sense of vindication that Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan signed the proclamation of 31 May 1913, declaring the Seventeenth Amendment duly ratified and incorporated into the fundamental laws of the United States. More than twenty years earlier as a Nebraska congressman, "The Great Commoner" had joined the struggle to free the Senate from the control of corrupt state legislatures, and despite three failed campaigns for...

A Liberty Hill man wants to evict all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and revolutionize the way elections are held. To accomplish this improbable goal, Tim Cox has devised the Get Out of Our House party, which is built around using the Internet. He said he developed the party because he's sick of corrupt politicians that perpetuate a broken system. Mr.Cox has created a political party, Get Out of Our House, in an effort to revolutionize how people are elected to the U.S. House. He says sales of his new book will help fund the party. In...

Over 100 US House Members Co-Sponsor Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act WASHINGTON, August 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - On Friday, Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ)- Co-Chairman of the Bipartisan Pro-Life Caucus - introduced legislation to expand and strengthen informed consent requirements abortion providers must follow by requiring information on pain and the unborn child be made available to women seeking abortions. "Expert testimony and scientific studies have shown that unborn children have the ability to feel pain from 20 weeks of gestation. You can be assured that abortion providers are aware of this information which, I might add, is well documented and...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill today that would significantly impact the abortion debate in the nation. The measure would undermine a current policy allowing states to provide medical coverage for pregnant women and their unborn children and could open the door for tax-funded abortions. In 2002, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a regulation to allow states to cover mothers and their unborn babies under the SCHIP program for poor residents. Pro-life groups applauded the decision by the Bush administration because it recognized both mother and unborn child...

Below is an email I just sent out to friends and family. I believe it will not do any good but I think we have to try. If you don't agree with me, please - no comments. Just ignore.

We ALL need to rid ourselves of this fixation on the quadrenniel beauty contest for president and pay more attention to the caliber of folks we send to the House. We SEEM to be lusting for some kind of modern monarchy or a knight on a white horse to “save” us from the boogie-man du-jour. AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN, FOLKS! Here’s a TRUE story to illustrate the point. Years ago, Congressman and medical doctor Larry McDonald was working late in his Capitol Hill office when an old friend from medical school knocked on his door. Larry rose and greeted his guest...

United States House of Representatives, 110th Congress, 1st SessionFind Your Representative by ZIP;Write Your Representative;Representatives by Name;.Representatives by State

Let's be brutally honest, today's results are absolutely dreadful. A lot of the worst people in American politics have just been granted power: Nancy Pelosi and her ilk, Harry Reid and of course, Hillary Clinton. It is difficult to see how any progress can be made in the next 2 years. The race for 2008 begins today; Hillary, Obama et al will all be jockeying for position. It is likely they will do so by defining themselves in contra to President Bush. The President himself is probably feeling quite lonely this morning; I can picture him sitting in the Oval...

  Unofficial election results for the 2006 General Election will be available beginning at approximately 8:05 pm (PST) on November 7, 2006. Results will updated on this site approximately every five minutes. Unofficial Election Results -- State of Oregon pdf Voters' Guide and list of measures and candidates

SAN FRANCISCO - Stanford University will bar physicians working at its two hospitals from accepting even the tiniest gifts from drug industry sales representatives to try to eliminate corporate influence from medical decisions, the school announced Tuesday. The policy takes effect Oct. 1 and also bans accepting gifts from other companies such as medical device makers that do business with the hospitals. The policy also prohibits the doctors from accepting free drug samples and publishing articles in science journals that were ghost written by corporate authors. The industry's sales force also would be prohibited from areas where patients are seen...

When is asking "is it good for Israel" not so good for Israel? Democrats and Republicans, politicking hard ahead of midterm elections that could end Republican control of the US Congress, are battling over which party was more supportive of Israel in its war with Hizbullah in Lebanon. "Republicans only offer support to Israel when they think that they'll get something for it," Democrats howled after the Republican-led Congress feted Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's prime minister who stood with Hizbullah in the recent conflict. A ranking Democrat "is publicly supporting a terrorist organization," Republicans barked back after Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.)...

Murtha will run for House leadership if Dems win this fall WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. John Murtha, an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq, announced Friday that he would run for majority leader if the Democrats take over the House in the fall elections. "If we prevail as I hope and know we will, and return to the majority this next Congress, I have decided to run for the open seat of the majority leader," Murtha said in a letter to his Democratic colleagues. "I would appreciate your consideration and vote and look forward to speaking to you personally...

Nationwide Rally to Stop Illegal Immigration on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at every City HallOn May 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. On July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally and BoycottRally to stop the invasion by millions of illegal aliens. 1-Day boycott...

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...

Q: Do aliens count as "persons" under the 14th amendment's apportionment of representatives? This is an interesting recurring question I get every once in a while and, unfortunately, been too occupied to answer. There has been talk to change "persons" under section 2 of the 14th amendment to read "citizens." Michigan Republican Rep. Candice Miller introduced a constitutional amendment last year that would change the 14th amendment to allow only "citizens" to be counted instead of "persons." The section in question reads as follows: Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole...

Some people say Don Zimmerman stood with Ted Kennedy. Then there are those of us in the reality-based community . . .

Still reeling from the attacks on Sen. John F. Kerry's brand of Roman Catholicism during the 2004 presidential race, 55 House Democrats issued a joint statement yesterday on the central role that the Catholic faith plays in their public lives. The signers said they were fed up with being labeled "good Catholics" or "bad Catholics" based on one issue -- abortion. They said their religion infuses their positions on many issues: poverty, war, health care and education. "Some of us are pro-choice and some of us are pro-life," said Rep. William J. Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.). "But we respect each other...

Venezuela snubbed a visiting congressional delegation at the Caracas airport. Just what transpired at the airport -- and why -- remains unclear. WASHINGTON -Venezuela snubbed a visiting congressional delegation at the Caracas airport. Just what transpired at the airport -- and why -- remains unclear. President Hugo Chávez's campaign to woo members of the U.S. Congress suffered a major setback this week as Venezuelan authorities, amid contradictory reports, snubbed members of a senior delegation of U.S. lawmakers by not letting them disembark from their aircraft for several hours. The lawmakers eventually left without ever getting off the plane. Chávez and...

A defiant Tom DeLay, removed as House majority leader because of a criminal indictment, said Sunday he can do his job even without the title and pledged to continue his close partnership with House Speaker Dennis Hastert in pushing the GOP's agenda. The Texas Republican known for keeping colleagues in line and raising prodigious amounts of cash to help elect GOP candidates said he is only guilty of working to defeat Democrats. "But that's not illegal," he said. Yet some House Republicans said the fundraising conspiracy case in Texas has plunged DeLay back into the GOP pack. "He's lost his...

"The Secret Revolution of Mexico and the Congress OF the United States!" by an American Patriot July 15, 2005 To the Members of Congress: WAKE-UP!!! a drug dealer is not an "unlicensed pharmacist" a burglar is not an "uninvited guest" and an "illegal alien" is not an "undocumented immigrant" or an "illegal immigrant" – they're "ILLEGAL INVADERS" in violation of the laws of nations!       The United States is "occupied territory" – occupied by Mexican nationals and "other than Mexican" with no allegiance to this country and the Senate of the United States voted NOT to fund the hiring for...

WASHINGTON -- A vote in the House of Representatives this week to punish Mexico for failing to extradite the suspected killers of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy David March and other law-enforcement officers divided Southland lawmakers, though not entirely along partisan lines. Sponsored by two Colorado legislators, the amendment threatens to cut off aid to any country that refuses to extradite suspects in the killings of U.S. law officers. It would affect about $66 million in aid to Mexico, which has blocked the extradition of suspects who face either death penalty or life imprisonment sentences. It passed 327 to 98....

Stephen Hayes, whose book The Connection detailed the links that are said not to have taken place between Saddam and al Qaeda, returns to the fray. Marvelling at the bare-faced lies of CNN which has been stating that there were no links -- and that the 9/11 Commission said so, when it said explicitly that there were -- he adds a few more examples of the contacts: 'In 1992 the Iraqi Intelligence services compiled a list of its assets. On page 14 of the document, marked "Top Secret" and dated March 28, 1992, is the name of Osama bin Laden,...

THE DEMISE OF THE U.S. DEMOCRATIC PARTY (The moral issues discussed below should concern people of all Faiths, and therefore this letter is being sent to members of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, the Federal Executive Branch of the Government, and to officials of governments throughout the world. It briefly covers the critical political and moral issues of abortion, homosexuality, the Iraq war, the death penalty, euthanasia, and stem cell research (see footnotes). For the good of your country, and for the good of your soul, your studied response, based on the Highest Authority (the Word of God),...

For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryJune 11, 2005 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. As we enter the summer season, my administration is working hard to keep our economy growing and creating jobs. Next week, I will talk about some of my plans to help American families achieve long-term economic security. On Tuesday, I will discuss Social Security reform with young people in Pennsylvania. I will remind them that the Social Security system is in good shape for their grandparents and for anybody born prior to 1950. I will also tell them that we must act...

WASHINGTON – Despite the partisan saber- rattling on Capitol Hill, a significant number of votes in the GOP-controlled House are passing with broad Democratic support. It's a trend that surprises analysts who have noticed the numbers, and it hints at a structural advantage for the GOP as it presses its agenda heading into 2006 elections. Call it purple power. Although Republican control of the House of Representatives is narrow - a margin of just 30 seats out of 435 total - some 20 percent of House Democrats come from districts that President Bush carried in 2004. Only 8 percent of...

A mathematical study of the US House of Representatives reveals clear partisanship - including stacked committees - within the House. While this may not surprise political analysts, the objective analysis contradicts the US Code, which outlines US laws and suggests a just system in which all legislation receives a fair hearing from politicians who put the country’s interests ahead of their political party’s. The words “non-partisan” and “unbiased” appear frequently in the code. Among the study’s findings is that the membership of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, formed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is closely tied...

Instead of a magic wand, Harry Reid uses his mouth. And in place of fighting on the side of good, Harry readily and passionately embraces the dark forces. As Senate Minority leader, Reid has already taken the Democrat art of obstructionism far beyond that of his predecessor Tom Daschle. And in a manner similar to the infamous and ongoing Howie Dean screams, no Republican is safe from his rantings and invented falsehoods. Harry’s once quick smile has turned into a leer and his demeanor has degraded to that of a permanently enraged and deranged man. Yikes! His apprentice training is...

A Monmouth County NJ political "activist" was apparently trapped in a web of his own devising,after a near-slanderous website was put up. Tawdry details of "Democrat Disinformation" here.