Free Republic

Senate votes on climate change and the Keystone XL oil pipeline laid bare divisions among Democrats — and underscored why the White House, not Congress, will be where the critical climate decisions reside in President Obama’s second term.Several votes during the freewheeling debate over a nonbinding budget plan provided a political barometer of where the chamber, including vulnerable Democrats, stand on the topics. Advocates of the proposed pipeline scored a symbolic victory Friday when 62 lawmakers voted for an amendment backing the project to bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries. Seventeen Democrats supported Sen....

President Obama approved a temporary spending bill this week that averted a government shutdown but also riled a slew of groups that say one provision protects Monsanto and other makers of genetically modified seeds and crops from federal courts. The so-called Monsanto Protection Act essentially requires the Agriculture Department to approve the growing, harvesting and selling of such crops, even if the courts rule environmental studies are incomplete -- undermining the judicial review system and posing potential health risks, critics say.

By Connor Adams Sheets | March 27 2013 4:55 PM Anger is growing against President Barack Obama the day after he signed into law a spending bill that included a provision opponents have dubbed the "Monsanto Protection Act." That bill, the HR 933 continuing resolution, was mainly aimed at averting a government shutdown and ensuring that the federal government would continue to be able to pay its bills for the next six months. But food and public safety advocates and independent farmers are furious that Obama signed it despite its inclusion of language that they consider to be a gift...

WASHINGTON, DC - President Barack Obama signed a spending bill, HR 933, into law, the "Monsanto Protection Act," that strips federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns. "The provision would strip federal courts of the authority to halt the sale and planting of an illegal, potentially hazardous GE crop while the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) assesses those potential hazards," explains a letter to the House that has been signed by dozens of food businesses and retailers, as well as interest groups and...

Senator Roy Blunt indicated Wednesday that there are enough votes in the Senate to delay the Hagel confirmation.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A month after calling on Congressman Todd Akin to drop out of Missouri's U.S. Senate race, the state's incumbent Republican senator now says he'll work for Akin's election.

Yesterday on Laura IngrahamÂ’s radio show, she asked Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell about a recent Roll Call article that framed me as one of the loud leaders of conservatives opposed to Mitch McConnell. The Senator from Kentucky responded that he had never heard of me and I did not have an audience. That sounds a bit like the child, when asked if he ate the cookie, replying that he had not and besides it did not taste good. If heÂ’d never heard of me, how can he comment on my audience? If he states plainly I have no audience,...

Urgent calls are needed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) and your two U.S. senators to urge them to support Amendment No. 1520 by Senator Roy Blunt (MO). This amendment would halt the Obama Administration’s new mandate requiring all employers—including religious employers—to violate their consciences and provide free birth control and abortion-inducing drugs to their employees. Action Requested Please do three things: Call Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) and urge him to allow the Senate to vote on Amendment No. 1520, the Blunt Amendment. You can reach Majority Leader Reid at 202-224-3542. Call your two U.S. senators and...

Congressional support for controversial online piracy legislation eroded dramatically on Wednesday in the face of an unprecedented online protest supported by tech titans such as Google, Wikipedia and Facebook. Several key senators withdrew their support from the Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA), including Tea Party favorite Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), an elected member of his party's leadership. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who leads the Senate GOP's campaign team, said the legislation should be put on hold, while Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a sponsor and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, retreated from the...

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Republican Roy Blunt  said he is one of several U.S. senators sponsoring legislation that he hopes will help level the taxes paid by traditional stores and online retailers.

Here is video of GOP U.S. Senate candidate Roy Blunt during a debate today with Democrat Robin Carnahan, where he said he would call for not spending the final $200 Billion of the failed Obama Stimulus Plan. He also said he would put a “stop payment” on over $100 million slated to go to Carnahan’s brother’s Windfarm business.

Robin Carnahan as Batman's sidekick: Cap and Trade Capers!

Outside Groups’ Campaign Expenditures Have Doubled By Alex Knott, CQ-Roll Call Outside organizations have shelled out twice as much on ads and other electioneering activities to affect Congressional races so far during the 2010 election cycle as they did two years ago.Unions, political parties and advocacy groups have spent more than $34.2 million on independent expenditures so far during this election, compared with less than $16.2 million at this time in the 2008 election, according to a CQ MoneyLine study of Federal Election Commission reports. “It’s staggering amounts of money,” said David Vance, spokesman for the Campaign Legal Center. “People...

This is the kind of ad we need to see more of all around the country. Republican Rep. Roy Blunt uses this ad to hang the radical Obama agenda around the neck of his Democrat opponent for U.S. Senate – Robin Carnahan. The ad says Carnahan supported Obama’s Stimulus Bill, Government Run Health Care, and a new Energy tax. It then asked voters, “Do you?” The more Republican candidates can run against Obama in their local races, the stronger the GOP wave will become.

I received a news release Tuesday that outlined how 28 Missouri Tea Party groups -- or 8,660 patriots -- have announced they are not endorsing Roy Blunt for U.S. Senate.

Jim DeMint or Sarah Palin he's not. But for a longshot Senate candidate in Missouri, Joe "The Plumber" Wurzelbacher's endorsement may the highest profile get to date, and the 2008 campaign fixture's already going on the attack on behalf of Republican state Sen. Chuck Purgason's upstart primary bid against Rep. Roy Blunt. In a video posted on Purgason's campaign website Friday, Wurzelbacher slams blunt as a "Washington insider," linking Blunt to President Barack Obama and lauding Purgason's character and integrity. "Ever since [the 2008 race] I've made it my mission to stop politicians like Obama," Wurzelbacher says. "Missouri has a...

Pres. Obama is the best fundraiser the Dem Party has, but his drawing power is way down from its peak during the '08 campaign. Obama is heading to MO and NV today to raise money for Sec/State Robin Carnahan (D), running for an open Senate seat, and Senate Maj. Leader Harry Reid. But Carnahan's campaign wasn't able to completely sell out the Folly Theater, where Obama will appear for a grassroots event on Carnahan's behalf, at the prices they wanted. Tickets once priced at $250 are now going for $99, while $35 tickets are half off. The grassroots event at...

The 17th Amendment is stupid: The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years…. But let me start at the beginning.  Article I § 3 cl. 1 of the Constitution originally established the election of Senators through the state legislatures.  The Federalist #62 laid out numerous arguments for the Constitutional framework of the Senate and its method of selection. The senatorial trust, which, requiring greater extent of information and stability of character, requires at the same time that the senator should have reached a period of...

During an interview Friday night, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) convinced me he lacks basic understanding of the people who are members of the "Tea Party Movement."

A Rally and Lobby Day at the Missouri Capital will be held on January 27th, 2010 to support legislation introduced into the Missouri House and the Missouri Senate supporting Missouri Tax Reform. The rally and lobby event is in support of (HJR-56) and companion Senate Bill (SJR--29) which will, if passed, go to a vote of the people to change the Missouri Constitution to ABOLISH the State Income Tax, and replace the income tax with just under a one cent sales tax increase. Studies conducted by the Show Me Institute have proven that Missouri is losing substantial economic development opportunity...