Free Republic

There are very, very few things about the Constitution that I would just outright change. There are lots of very important areas where reasonable people can differ, with enormous consequence, and I would certainly like to see those clarified, but that's not what I mean here. Here I'm talking about things in the current Constitution, as amended, that are just plain wrong. The first and foremost among these is the 17th Amendment. If I could change one thing about the Constitution, it would be to clarify the meaning of "general welfare". If I could change two, though, the second would...

Preacher Rebuffs Senate Spending Inquiry Dec 5 09:13 PM US/Eastern By ERIC GORSKI and RACHEL ZOLL AP Religion Writers Write a Comment View larger image One of six Christian ministries under investigation by a Senate committee is rebuffing inquiries into its spending, challenging the panel's watchdog role over religious groups, The Associated Press has learned. A lawyer for preacher Creflo Dollar of World Changers Church International in suburban Atlanta has asked Sen. Charles Grassley to either refer the matter to the IRS or get a subpoena, according to a letter from Dollar's attorney obtained Wednesday by the AP. Grassley, the...

Napoleon resident John F. “Jack” Green is 78 years old and runs about three miles every morning. He also is running for Congress in the 5th District special election as a write-in candidate. “I’m running because I can’t lose. I can only win,” Green said. “How can you lose something you never had?” While Green’s name will not be on the ballot, the names of State Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green, and Democrat Robin Weirauch of Napoleon will be. Green said he ran for the same congressional seat six or eight years ago, when no Democrat candidate was running. Green,...

Many people with whom I talk about politics with are stunned by my constant assertions that America is not supposed to be a democracy. I credit public education for this. The fact is that most people are almost totally ignorant of history and completely brain-dead about the Constitution. Our Founding Fathers did not give us a democracy, nor did they intend to. They were very well-educated men (especially by today's standards), and they knew, historically, democracies had never worked, even on the small scales when they had been attempted. They knew if democracy wouldn't work on the small scale of...

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...

With respect to states' rights, it should be readily apparent to all that state governments cannot exert any meaningful influence or control over the federal government, judiciary, or any other federal institution. Let us state the problem precisely. At the present time, there are no checks and balances available to the states over federal power or over Congress itself in any area. However, in the history of our country, it was not always this way. In the original design by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, there was an effective check on Congress through the state legislatures' power to appoint...

This weblog calls for the repeal of the 17th Amendment and addresses the abusive hegemony committed by the U. S. Senate. If Americans want to remove some corruption from government, the first significant step is to repeal the 17th Amendment. Americans should fear the steady growth by the oligarchy in the Senate. We should fear the oligarchs more because our Constitution cannot be spoiled by bombs, the courts, or the President; only through legislation.

The Senate annoys you, wouldn't it be sweet to annoy them back? Here's how to tick off... Harry Reid: In his presence, drink that popular 90s beverage, Surge Ted Kennedy: Hold a beer bottle just out of his reach John Kerry: Always wear flip-flops in his presence, and ask him if he wants a Purple Heart the next time he gets a paper cut. And while you're at it, ask him if the paper was made from wood in Bush's timber company. Barack Obama: Ask him how the President of Canada is doing Barbara Mikulski: When she gets up to...

Brilliant and handsome, ambitious and arrogant, New York Republican Roscoe Conkling was one of the most compelling and colorful members of the late-nineteenth-century Senate. Robert C. Byrd (D-WV) has described him as “a veritable bird of paradise amidst a barnyard of drabber fowl. While his colleagues favored black,” Byrd writes, “Conkling sported green trousers, scarlet coats, gold lace, striped shirts, and yellow shoes.” Soon after his arrival in 1867, this flamboyant orator became one of the Senate’s principal Republican leaders. Conkling built a strong state political machine through his control over New York City’s patronage-rich customshouse. When an investigation uncovered...

Welcome to Arlen Specter, the B side. One week after standing up for the nomination of Judge Leslie Southwick, a Bush appeals court nominee being stonewalled by Democrats, the mercurial Republican from Philadelphia has come up with a strange new quest. On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee's ranking Republican announced his plans to "review" the confirmation hearing testimony of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito to see how it matches their decisions on the bench. "There are things he has said, and I want to see how well he has complied with it," Senator Specter said of the Chief...

The soldiers think they can win. Some Senators lose their nerve. Richard Lugar of Indiana, George Voinovich of Ohio, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, and John Warner of Virginia have together served more than a century in the world's greatest deliberative body. Historians will remember their time in public office for Reagan's challenge to the Soviet Union, for the success of pro-growth economic policies, for welfare reform, for the reinvigoration of a constitutionalist approach to the courts, for the framing of a foreign policy for the post-9/11 world. None of these men played a leading role in any of these...

Who are the Senators that think 70% of you, don't know anything First off, CONGRATULATIONS, nothing, and we mean nothing has affected the Legislature branch of government than you did about immigration this past month.  You shut down the phone system for all of the capitol building on Thursday.  You emailed, faxed, wrote, and relentlessly phoned your Senators that this amnesty (immigration) plan was horrible.   In keeping with our great philosophy of providing you with the facts, consider this a reminder when you vote for these Senators at their next election.Immigration VoteGrouped by Home State (June 26th 2007) If they voted...

I had a chance to interview Bob Bennett today while in Boston. He had some interesting things to say about Romney and those Senators who "support" him:Click for video.

We thank the following Senators for doing the work that no other American Politician would do.

Name Email Fax Telephone * Alexander (R-TN) http://alexander.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home 202-228-3398 (202) 224-4944 Bennett (R-UT) http://bennett.senate.gov/contact/emailmain.html 202-228-1168 (801) 524-5933 * Cochran (R-MS) http://cochran.senate.gov/contact.htm 202-224-9450 (601) 965-4459 * Coleman (R-MN) http://coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm 202-224-1152 (612) 645-0323 * Collins (R-ME) http://collins.senate.gov 202-224-2693 (207) 945-0417 * Cornyn (R-TX) http://cornyn.senate.gov/contact/index.html 202-228-2856 (512) 469-6034 * Craig (R-ID) http://craig.senate.gov/email/ 202-228-1067 (208) 342-7985 * Domenici (R-NM) http://domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm 202-228-3261 (505) 346-6791 Gregg (R-NH) http://gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm 202-224-4952 (603) 225-7115 Hatch (R-UT) http://hatch.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Offices.Contact 202-224-6331 (801) 524-4380 Hutchison (R-TX) http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html 202-224-0776 (214) 361-3500 Kyl (R-AZ) http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm 202-224-2207 (602) 840-1891 Lott (R-MS) http://lott.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Email 202-224-2262 (601) 965-4644 * McConnell (R-KY) http://mcconnell.senate.gov/contact_form.cfm 02-224-2499 (502) 582-6304 Murkowski (R-AK) http://murkowski.senate.gov/contact.cfm XXX...

Happy Tuesday! This is going to be one hell of a day people! We need to energize, organize and FIGHT. Today is VERY important, today is the day Bush plans to try and revive the ILLEGAL immigration senate bill #1348. He is desperate to shove this bill through. PLEASE continue to call your senators and congressmen, we have to continue fighting this! Here are a few numbers along with a link you can cut and paste to find your senator’s own personal number!!! Wooohooo!! 1-800-417-7666 Senators numbers Here is a number for congress: 1-202-224-3121 We stopped it before, we can...

WASHINGTON --When Sen. Patrick Leahy wants privacy, he heads down one of the Capitol's marbled hallways and through a locked door next to a hulking, white marble statue. Then, through another locked door, into a hideaway secure from the bustle outside. Many of the 100 senators have these coveted, hard-to-find nooks scattered around the Capitol, a cherished perk on top of their official suites in the nearby Senate buildings where the staff works and constituents drop in. Hideaways have been popular places for legislative dealmaking -- even a little monkey business, too.

WASHINGTON — Trent Lott usually doesn't answer his Senate phone himself, but when angry callers are burning up the lines — as they are over this week's debate about revising the nation's immigration laws — the Republicans' No. 2 Senate leader has picked up to hear what they have to say. A lot of the talk is misinformation, he says. Talk radio and the blogs were blasting the compromise bill, which includes a guest-worker program and a path to legal status for many illegal immigrants, well before the bill's text was ready for senators Tuesday. "We talked for 15 minutes,"...

The Iraq funding bill has triggered an all-out battle of words between presidential candidates from both parties after Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) compared the “no” votes of Democratic frontrunners Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) with surrendering to al Qaeda. Clinton and Obama were among the 14 senators who opposed the funding bill, which Congress sent to President Bush late Thursday. “This vote may win favor with MoveOn and liberal primary voters, but it’s the equivalent of waving a white flag to al Qaeda,” McCain said, regarding the vote of his Democratic opponents. Obama returned fire, saying...

RYE, N.H. - Presidential hopeful Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) opened a two-day offensive against Republican Sens. John Sununu (news, bio, voting record) and Judd Gregg (news, bio, voting record), telling New Hampshire voters on Friday their senators should do more to end the war. Obama, an Illinois Democrat, told a town hall audience in Rye that Sununu, Gregg and 14 other Republican senators are the main roadblocks to ending the unpopular war in Iraq. Obama backs a plan that would give the Democratic-controlled Congress more control over the war's finances and begin a troop redeployment before President Bush...

Sen. Isakson and Sen. Chambliss stand with Kennedy for largest amnesty in history DEAR GEORGIANS, Your two Senators stood at the press conference this afternoon and lent their support to the worst immigration bill in history -- and there have been some disastrous ones. After months of promising the voters of Georgia that they would never participate in full legalization of the 12-20 million illegal aliens, these two Senators are embracing a bill that will allow more than 98% of them to remain in your communities and job markets forever. And your Senators didn't even get the trigger they talked...

WASHINGTON - Congress can stage one heck of an immigration debate, as senators have shown. But writing new immigration law? That's the real test. Starting as early as Monday, the Senate revives an immigration overhaul drama that still lacks a coherent ending. The cast is familiar and the lines well-rehearsed, but the plot is a work in progress. "We've studied this enough," said Manuel Cunha, president of the Fresno, Calif.-based Nisei Farmers League. "Now, it's time to move it through." Negotiators were meeting throughout the weekend, seeking a big compromise before public debate begins. On Friday, hinting at progress, Senate...

 These men and women were willing to take a risk.When the U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to lift the president's restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, it failed to reach the number of votes necessary to overturn a promised Bush veto. That’s because 34 Senators resisted a bipartisan tide and said “No” to the destruction of preborn humans. Carrie Gordon Earll, senior analyst for bioethics for Focus on the Family Action, said pro-life senators who stood their ground will be criticized in some circles because of it.   “Some of these senators have watched as the composition of the Senate has shifted away...

WASHINGTON — Three senior Democratic lawmakers are demanding that the Department of Justice provide clean copies of all documents relating to the U.S. attorneys investigation, including previously produced copies that had portions blacked out and others that may have been withheld.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic senators introduced legislation that would bar US use of cluster bombs in or near civilian areas or that have a "dud rate" of one percent or greater. Human rights groups urged speedy action on the bill sponsored by Senators Dianne Feinstein (news, bio, voting record) of California and Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) of Vermont. Dropped from aircraft or fired by artillery, cluster munitions open above ground and disperse dozens to hundreds of tiny bomblets over a wide area. Although designed to stop armored assaults, bomblets have fallen on civilian areas and littered fields long...

Tom Coburn doesn’t care about the midterm elections. Sure, he’s a senator. Sure, he’s a Republican. And sure, that means his party lost control of both houses of Congress last fall and will be out of power until at least 2009. But what difference does that make to Coburn? “I don’t think it matters,” he said on a warm day in December, sitting in his office on the first floor of the Russell Senate building as the annual session came to a close. “It will be my first time in the minority party, but I’ve been in the minority the...

Bill Kristol writes bluntly about the choice facing Republican senators next week. It is a piece that will circulate throughout the Beltway this weekend, hopefully to good effect. But even Kristol understates the fury that is building among party regulars towards senators who have thrown in with Carl Levin to, as Howard Dean put it, "repudiate the president's policy." (The same anger is building towards the House leadership's embrace of me-too defeatism embodied in Republican Leader Boehner's resolution, though there the error is a blunder, not a purposeful one, and might yet be corrected by the withdrawal of the resolution.)...

WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic senators warned Tuesday against a drift toward war with an emboldened Iran and suggested the Bush administration was missing a chance to engage its longtime adversary in potentially helpful talks over next-door Iraq. "What I think many of us are concerned about is that we stumble into active hostilities with Iran without having aggressively pursued diplomatic approaches, without the American people understanding exactly what's taking place," Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), D-Ill., told John Negroponte, who is in line to become the nation's No. 2 diplomat as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's deputy....

Destroying a president is not much of a strategy to win a war, but it's all the Democrats have. The churls of the left don't seem to care whether their country wins the war, the important thing is to "keep hate alive." If hate worked in '06, maybe it will work again in '08, when the stakes will be considerably higher. Sometimes it's not only hate, but a bit of schadenfreude, too, taking pleasure in the woes of the enemy. "Partisan pleasure in George Bush's pain dates to the anguish of the contested 2000 election loss," observes Daniel Henninger in...

I know they think they are already the President,how many and who are they?I've lost track.

California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are embracing two different approaches to fighting global warming as the new Democrat-led Congress prepares to take action on the issue. Feinstein has attracted industry support with a bill targeting the electricity sector that would allow trades of pollution credits. Boxer, who chairs the Senate's environment committee that will hold hearings on the issue, has signed onto legislation aiming for more dramatic cuts of heat-trapping emissions. Both Democrats are citing California's landmark anti-global-warming law, passed last year, which imposed the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. They're also both optimistic about the...

<p>THE DEC. 1 appearance of US Senator Barack Obama at the World AIDS Day summit signals one possible, and hopeful, future for American politics. The summit, hosted by best-selling evangelical preacher Rick Warren, was itself significant; who would have thought 20 years ago that evangelicals, who then barely acknowledged the existence of AIDS, would now be leaders in calling public attention to its ravages -- particularly in Africa?</p>

I was having a discussion this evening, and someone asked me which US Senators I really like. I hadn't thought about it, and to my chagrin the only one I could think of was Norm Coleman (I'm from Illinois, not Minnesota). Who are the good Senators, of either party? My criteria are: acknowledgement of the Islamofascist threat, personal integrity, opposition to earmarks, opposition to amnesty for illegal immigrants, leadership traits (whether or not in the leadership) and intelligence. Are there any attributes that I am neglecting? Anyone? Anyone? Buehler?

. Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, meets U.S. Senators John Kerry, right, and Christopher Dodd, second left, in Damascus, Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006

Sorry Senator Seeks Presidency By Jenni Vinson Trejo December 19, 2006 And they’re off! It’s an incredibly eclectic race. Some of the political hounds are out of the shoot and chasing the goal around the track already while some of the hounds are still contemplating whether to enter into the shoot to join the race. Others are no where near the track but keep sending out innuendos that they anticipate arriving at the track in the near future IF enough of a ground swelling can be mustered by their fans to make a run at this race possible. It takes...

A KWANZAA CAROL starring Trent Lott as Ebenezer Scrood with Strom Thurmond, Bob Dole, Jim Jeffords, Al Sharpton and Tiny Tom Daschle Now that Trent Lott's back in the Senate leadership this seems as good a time as ever to recall that weird moment four years ago when the Singing Senator decided to celebrate Strom Thurmond's hundredth birthday party by trying to drag all the Democrats' segregationist baggage over to the GOP. Trent quickly became the first outgoing incoming Senate Majority Leader in Congressional history. This heartrending vignette on Trent's plight by acclaimed author Charles Dickens came in the midst...

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Two influential US senators, including former presidential candidate John Kerry, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad despite criticism in Washington of such missions. The US embassy said Kerry and Chris Dodd, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held talks with Assad covering "the full range of topics relating to US- Syria relations and regional issues". They also met with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, who called for Washington to press for a land-for-peace settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the state news agency SANA said. "It is important for the United States to play its role as...

The Economist has a good backgrounder on Lebanon. This country is in the process of seeing the democratic reforms of last year's Cedar Revolution undone by the creeping "direct action" of a Hezbollah-inspired street mob in Beirut. And the Western media ignore this attempt by a minority of 40% to seize the government by a coup de pouce while they are in a tizzy of fits and snits because President Bush has put his speech on Iraq off until January.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2006 -- Defense secretary nominee Robert M. Gates spoke today on how the war in Iraq has touched him personally -- 12 graduates of Texas A&M University, which he has led as president for the last four years, have been killed in Iraq. Sen. Edward Kennedy, left, listens as Sen. Carl Levin questions Robert M. Gates, defense secretary nominee, during a Senate Armed Services Commitee confirmation hearing, Dec. 5. Photo by Cherie A. Thurlby  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates is President Bush's nominee to succeed Donald H. Rumsfeld as secretary of defense. “I would...

Washington has no shortage of bullies, but even we can't quite believe an October 27 letter that Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe sent to ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. Its message: Start toeing the Senators' line on climate change, or else. We reprint the full text of the letter here, so readers can see for themselves. But its essential point is that the two Senators believe global warming is a fact, and therefore all debate about the issue must stop and ExxonMobil should "end its dangerous support of the [global warming] 'deniers.' " Not only that, the company "should repudiate...

If they're serious about national security issues -- as something other than simply a political tool, that is -- perhaps the Democrats would answer two questions: (1) Why would Nancy Pelosi consider denying moderate, bipartisan Jane Harman the opportunity to chair the House Intelligence Committee, and replace her with liberal Rep. Alcee Hastings, a former federal judge who was impeached for and convicted of bribery? (2) How did Senate Democrats – who claimed that dissident Republican Senators Warner, Graham and McCain had their proxy to negotiate with The White House on procedures for interrogating and trying terrorist detainees – come...

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole spent Friday morning in Tucson, rallying support for fellow Republican Sen. Jon Kyl in his bid for re-election. Dole headlined an entourage of female U.S. senators at the Arizona Inn, pledging their support for Kyl in his race against Democratic challenger Jim Pederson. "Sen. Kyl is a proven leader on important issues such as homeland security, victims' rights, immigration and health-care reform," she told about 150 supporters. Dole, of North Carolina, was joined by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Hutchison and Collins offered similar comments, each focusing on Kyl's record on cutting...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats hoping to capture control of the U.S. Congress in this fall elections called on Tuesday for probes of the Bush administration's Iraq rebuilding effort, which they likened to the government's botched response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Senate Democrats urged congressional and Pentagon investigations into hiring and contracting practices in Iraq. The requests came after the Washington Post newspaper reported young novices with Republican political connections got high-level jobs rebuilding Iraq in 2003 and 2004. "Iraq, in one of the most critical moments in its history when the United States was there was being run by...

WASHINGTON - Negotiations between the White House and a trio of powerful GOP senators snagged Wednesday over Bush administration demands that Congress reinterpret the nation's treaty obligations to allow tough CIA interrogations of terrorism suspects. Sen. John Warner (news, bio, voting record), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said his panel would meet Thursday to finalize an alternative to President Bush's plan to prosecute terror suspects and redefine acts that constitute war crimes. Warner said he was aware the White House may come out in opposition of his legislation. The Supreme Court ruled in June that Bush's court system established...

Politics: A Senate report that claims there was no link between Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and al-Qaida is a conclusion in search of facts and suggests that, at least for the Democrats, Senate intelligence is an oxymoron. ...The report says one of Saddam’s senior intelligence operatives, Faruq Hijazi, admitted to meeting bin Laden in 1995. But the report accepts at face value Hijazi’s claim that “this was his sole meeting with bin Laden or a member of al-Qaida, and he is not aware of any other individual following up on the initial contact.” ...No mention is made of the December 1998...

Sens. Reid, Durbin, Stabenow, Schumer, and Dorgan sent a letter to Disney today containing the following passages:... Presenting such deeply flawed and factually inaccurate misinformation to the American public and to children would be a gross miscarriage of your corporate and civic responsibility to the law, to your shareholders, and to the nation. The Communications Act of 1934 provides your network with a free broadcast license predicated on the fundamental understanding of your principle obligation to act as a trustee of the public airwaves in serving the public interest. We urge you, after full consideration of the facts, to uphold...

WASHINGTON A company that claimed it developed a way to harvest stem cells from days-old human embryos without harming the embryos was accused at a Senate hearing Wednesday of misrepresenting its work. Advanced Cell Technology Inc. of Alameda, Calif., drew fire from Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa., authors of a bill vetoed by President Bush that would have expanded embryonic stem cell research through government funding. Supporters of such research say it could lead to treatments and cures for a wide variety of ailments, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injuries. Bush and abortion foes,...

  From the Desk of Mark Stephens, Executive Director, NRSCDo you have your wallet handy? Well, you better . . . . . . Let me tell you why.The LCLI (Liberal Cost of Living Increase)Anytime liberal Democrats take the reins of government, the American people must pull out their wallets and pay a price. It's the automatic Liberal Cost of Living Increase - the LCLI. You see it happen at the local level, state level and at the federal level.Americans are feeling the squeeze of rising energy prices and escalating health care costs - but the LCLI will dwarf...

As the Senate prepares to consider anew the nomination of John Bolton as United Nations ambassador, Senators Schumer and Clinton are facing increasing pressure from pro-Israel groups to renounce another Democratic filibuster in light of the escalating war in the Middle East. The Foreign Relations Committee is set to hold a hearing on the nomination tomorrow, and several Democrats on the panel have voiced their unswerving opposition to Mr. Bolton's nomination. From New York's senators, however, there has been nothing but silence. Mr. Schumer and Mrs. Clinton voted to block Mr. Bolton's confirmation a year ago, but they have not...

I am proud that the Senators from Texas did not vote for this. I do believe that the other Senators should be voted out of office. I am surprise at some of the one who voted for it and other not so shocked at all!! Lynn Richards Make sure everyone is informed and that they vote. This should really get your knickers in a knot!! Below is a list of U.S. Senators who just voted to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits; in essence, your FICA monies. Money to people who are here illegally. They'll now share in an account...