Al Franken Wins – Add Another Clown to the 3-Ringed Circus; Congress
This is the person who will be representing Minnesota. Great job Minnesotans we can really take your state seriously!
He’ll fit right in with the rest of the circus; elephants, asses, weenies, trapeze artists & clowns…
And in case you were wondering – he hasn’t paid taxes either:
Last April, the California Tax Franchise Board revealed that Franken owed the state $5,800 in taxes, fines, and penalties because he did not file returns in 2003 through 2007. Franken then admitted that he owed more than $50,000 in back taxes to 17 states.
Franken blamed everything on his accountant of 18 years, saying he failed to report the income from the comedian’s celebrity appearances and speeches in those states where he made money outside of Minnesota and New York, where he lives. Franken claimed he overpaid taxes in those two states and will file for refunds.
But the accountant, Allen Chanzis, has not verified Franken’s account. In fact, he has said he was told not to talk to the press. Nor has Franken released any documentation to show that he overpaid taxes in two states.
Senior Democrat Robert Byrd States Obama’s Czars Are Unconstitutional
It’s about time somebody on the left sobered up from all the spiked kool aid - and it just so happens that it is the senior Democrat from West Virginia, Robert Byrd. I’m sure the progressives in the House and Senate will just blow it off as him being either senile or a former member of the KKK.
My guess is that the old timer, like many of them, aren’t too keen on the CHANGE aspect of Obama’s presidency.
This has become too much for the longest-serving senator in U.S. history to stomach. Democratic Senator Robert Byrd is the president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate. Even though Senate rules vest most powers in the Senate majority leader, the president pro tempore is a constitutional officer, and third in line to the U.S. presidency (after the vice president and the Speaker of the House). This office is held by a Democrat, who has been serving in the Senate since before Barack Obama was even born.
Senator Byrd wrote a letter to President Obama in February, criticizing the president’s strategy of creating czars to manage important areas of national policy. Senator Byrd said that these appointments violate both the constitutional system of checks and balances and the constitutional separation of powers, and is a clear attempt to evade congressional oversight. (Didn’t this White House promise unprecedented transparency?)
And Senator Byrd is exactly correct. The Constitution commands that government officers with significant authority (called “principal officers”) are nominated by the president but then are subject to a confirmation vote by the U.S. Senate. And principal officers include not only cabinet-level department heads, but go five levels deep in executive appointments, to include assistant secretaries and deputy undersecretaries.
It’s time to do more than write letters to the President. It’s time to stand up and let our voices be heard, whether it’s in peaceful protest, or taking it to the media one step at a time. The more we speak out the harder it is to ignore.
I’m still waiting for enough Congress-critters to call out Obama on all the other unconstitutional actions he has taken since January… Crickets*
A Compiled List of D.C. Corruptocrats
The culture of corruption now has a compiled list! If you were wondering who was under investigation for corruption in the House and Senate and from which party here is the info:
Democrats Lead, 12 to 4… In Members of Congress Under Investigation
Democratic members of Congress: Sanford Bishop of Georgia, Jesse Jackson of Illinois, Allan Mollohan of West Virginia, John Murtha of Pennsylvania, Charlie Rangel of New York, Linda Sanchez of California, Loretta Sanchez of California, Pete Visclosky of Indiana.
Democratic Senators: Roland Burris of Illinois, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Bob Menendez of New Jersey.
Republican Members of Congress: Jerry Lewis of California, Garry Miller of California, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Don Young of Alaska.
Republican Senators: None.
Having no members of the caucus under investigation seems like an impressive feat by Republican senators, but in defense of Democratic senators, there are a bunch more of them.
“If Democrats didn’t have double standards they’d have no standards at all.”
Senate Passes FY10 Budget Blueprint of $3.4T ~ No GOP Support (Bend Over and Take it America Act)
The Senate passed the 2010 budget resolution, 53-43, Wednesday without any Republican votes, giving President Barack Obama another high-profile victory before his 8 p.m. press conference to mark his first 100 days in office.
The House voted 233-193 earlier in the day to back the $3.4 trillion budget blueprint, which sets limits for legislation to follow, including the annual appropriations bills.
Four Democratic Senators, including newly minted Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), opposed the budget resolution. Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.), Robert Byrd (W.Va.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) also voted “no.”
Specter had objected to the inclusion of fast-track rules that will allow the Senate to pass health care reform with a simple majority vote.
Awww isn’t that sad that Specter, the traitor, is whining about the budget and voting against it while almost all of his contemporaries voted for it. He is also upset about the reconciliation language – something that can destroy the entire democratic process for large legislation items, like health care.
The blueprint sets the stage for a wholesale reform of the nation’s health care system, continued tax cuts for the middle class and higher tax rates for those making more than $250,000. It also predicts the largest budget deficits in the history of the country, although the blueprints presume that those deficits will drop significantly within five years.
Farewell America, it was nice knowing you – I really wish we could have had more time together ~ at least we almost made it to the 30 year relationship… I hope we can still be friends, please keep in touch!
Yours Truly,
CrabbyCon
Final blueprint vote count:
| YEAs —53 | ||
| Akaka (D-HI) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Bennet (D-CO) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Brown (D-OH) Burris (D-IL) Cantwell (D-WA) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Dorgan (D-ND) Durbin (D-IL) Feingold (D-WI) Feinstein (D-CA) |
Gillibrand (D-NY) Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kaufman (D-DE) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lincoln (D-AR) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) |
Mikulski (D-MD) Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Sanders (I-VT) Schumer (D-NY) Shaheen (D-NH) Stabenow (D-MI) Tester (D-MT) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI) Wyden (D-OR) |
| NAYs —43 | ||
| Alexander (R-TN) Barrasso (R-WY) Bayh (D-IN) Bennett (R-UT) Bond (R-MO) Brownback (R-KS) Bunning (R-KY) Burr (R-NC) Byrd (D-WV) Chambliss (R-GA) Coburn (R-OK) Cochran (R-MS) Collins (R-ME) Corker (R-TN) Cornyn (R-TX) |
Crapo (R-ID) DeMint (R-SC) Ensign (R-NV) Enzi (R-WY) Graham (R-SC) Grassley (R-IA) Gregg (R-NH) Hatch (R-UT) Hutchison (R-TX) Inhofe (R-OK) Isakson (R-GA) Johanns (R-NE) Kyl (R-AZ) Lugar (R-IN) Martinez (R-FL) |
McCain (R-AZ) McConnell (R-KY) Murkowski (R-AK) Nelson (D-NE) Risch (R-ID) Roberts (R-KS) Shelby (R-AL) Snowe (R-ME) Specter (R-PA) Thune (R-SD) Vitter (R-LA) Voinovich (R-OH) Wicker (R-MS) |
| Not Voting – 3 | ||
| Kennedy (D-MA) | Rockefeller (D-WV) | Sessions (R-AL) |
McCain Will Face 2010 Challenger in The Primaries
Good! Let’s get a true conservative/libertarian leaning politician in the Senate. It’s time to take back America and kick the bums out!
Social conservatives tolerated John McCain as the party’s nominee, but never trusted him, and he now appears to be facing a serious primary from the right in Arizona next year.
Chris Simcox, the founder of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and a prominent figure in the movement to clamp down on illegal immigration, will be announcing tomorrow at an event on the Mexican border that he’s resigned from the group to run in the 2010 Senate primary.
From a forthcoming release:
“John McCain has failed miserably in his duty to secure this nation’s borders and protect the people of Arizona from the escalating violence and lawlessness,” Simcox said. “He has fought real efforts over the years at every turn, opting to hold our nation’s border security hostage to his amnesty schemes. Coupled with his votes for reckless bailout spending and big government solutions to our nation’s problems, John McCain is out of touch with everyday Arizonans. Enough is enough.”
McCain was forced to abandon his own immigration reform legislation during last year’s Republican Primary, a move that may have cost him substantial Hispanic support to which his record could have given him access.
So he’s basically getting it from both sides on this one.
Simcox, with a national base and a high profile on the right, is well positioned to give McCain a serious local headache. He’ll find some allies among the conservatives who recently took over the Arizona Republican Party from McCain’s allies, and he has a national fundraising base.
UPDATE: Here’s his campaign website, which includes a clear effort not to be a single-issue immigration candidate.
And just for the record Politico – it wasn’t just social conservatives who didn’t find McCain palatable, but it was those who believed in the constitution, true Federalism, limited government and weren’t pro-amnesty.
