Category Archives: U.S. Senate

by | May 28, 2014 · 8:04 am

Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act

May 21, 2014: The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed (390 to 33) the Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act. If the Senate passes and the President signs this bill into law, it would be much easier (read: possible) for the scandal-plagued VA to fire employees based on poor performance (read: clean out dead wood). YAYS were bipartisan; NAYS came from Democrats ONLY.

May 22, 2014: The day before Memorial Day weekend started, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) asked for the Senate to bring this bill to a vote.  Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) objected on behalf of Senate Democrats. As chair of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Sanders has the power to delay ANY action on this important bill INDEFINITELY. He says in the video below he is going to hold a HEARING …. in June.

Senate Dems Block Veterans Bill [:33]

Q. Guess who hates the idea of dead wood getting fired?
A. The UNION that protects said dead wood from accountability.

Q. Guess what Socialist Senator is owned by the UNIONS?
A. Bernie Sanders.

Remember back in 2009 when Democrats kept screaming about how Republicans opposed Obamacare because we supposedly WANTED people to DIE?

Democrat Alan Grayson Claims “Republicans Want You To Die” (:19)

May 15, 2014: Senator Sanders justified his “sit on all VA reform legislation until hell freezes over” policy by telling CNN “We know that people die every day.”

Sanders also claimed, “There are problems, and we have got to get at those problems. But we need the facts to lead us to where we want to go.” But Congress AND the TWO presidents have KNOWN SINCE 2005 that the VA was failing veterans by delaying care, wasting money and falsifying their records!

Sanders NEVER served in the military, so why is he CHAIR of the Senate’s Committee on Veterans Affairs? Because he votes the way Harry Reid tells him to vote. Officially, he is an Independent (not a Democrat), but he describes himself as a “Democratic Socialist” which means he’s not the centrist his Independent status might suggest, but rather a Progressive Obamacrat.

Sources:

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Filed under Armed Forces, Bernie Sanders, Democrats, Marco Rubio, Obamacare, U.S. Senate, Unions, VA

by | May 26, 2014 · 7:14 am

What passes for leadership in the BizarrO White House

If the White House really wants to repair relations with Congress, the Obama administration should consider making nice rather than insulting them and wasting their time.

2014_05 20 Empty chair in Obama WH

Sources:

Senator Corker Calls Meeting “One of the Most Bizarre I’ve Attended”
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/05/23/sen-corker-white-house-meeting-about-obamas-foreign-policy-one-of-the-most-bizarre-ive-attended/

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
http://www.foreign.senate.gov/

Ten Democrat members: Robert Menendez (D-NJ, Chair), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Christopher Coons (D-DE), Richard J. Durbin (D-DE), Tom Udall (D-NM), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA). 10 Dem

Eight GOP members: Bob Corker (R-TN, Ranking GOP Member), James E. Risch (R-ID), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), John McCain (R-AZ), John Barrasso (R-WY), Rand Paul (R-KY).

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Filed under Barack Obama, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate

by | May 18, 2014 · 1:13 am

The Clown in the Senate

In the June 2 issue of National Review:

“If America needs a(nother) good reason to hand Democrats their heads come November, then they would do well to study the career of Harry Reid (D.,Ritz-Carlton), the Sheriff of Nottingham to Barack Obama’s Prince John.”

2014_06 National Review cover - Clown Reid

There are 53 Democrats in the Senate, plus two nominal independents who associate with them, and this clown caucus has chosen, since 2007, to place itself under the malignant leadership of Harry Reid, Washington’s answer to Frankenstein’s monster — stitched together out of the worst bits of Roger Chillingworth, Joe McCarthy, and Droopy — a teacup tyrant who has filled his own pockets to the tune of $10 million while decrying the allegedly baleful influence of the wealthy on politics, a man who has done violence to ethical standards left and right, using campaign funds for personal expenditures and trying to hide payments channeled to his granddaughter, who takes to the Senate floor to make patently false, malicious, and increasingly loopy claims about his political rivals, and who is leading a partisan assault on the Bill of Rights.

Read the rest for free @ https://www.nationalreview.com/nrd/articles/378037/clown-senate

Source:

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Filed under Harry Reid, U.S. Senate

by | February 27, 2014 · 9:22 am

Senator Reid is a big fat liar

Check out what the DEMOCRAT Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said from the floor of the United States Senate.

Reid: “It’s just stories! Lies!”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. And the more than 5 million Americans who have had insurance policies they liked canceled? They’re all lying liars in a giant, right-wing conspiracy? Pull the other one, Harry.

Reid: “Ack! The Koch Brothers are trying to buy America!”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Time Warner donated MORE TO DEMOCRATS than the KOCH BROTHERS donated to Republicans. And both of their donations were teensy weensy tater tots compared to the HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS that billionaires, big unions and corporations have shoveled into Democrat coffers.

Obamacrats are absolutely shameless. Five years ago, one of them pimped an equally evil lie from the floor of the House of Representatives.

Those of us who are not brain dead Obamacrats know that the Republican plans were about addressing specific problems in the health insurance market that drive costs up. E.g., States (like New York) that forbid residents to buy health insurance anywhere else.

In New York, Blue Cross has a monopoly; you know what happens when one business controls a commodity, right? It should tell you something about how UNaffordable health insurance has been in New York State that we are one of the few places where ObamaCare prices are similar or a little less.

Dearest couldn’t afford health insurance before ObamaCare; we STILL can’t afford it, but now the government is going to FINE us for not having it. Thanks, Democrats. That was a Big Help. NOT.

Here’s a sampling of Tweets and Twitchy comments in response to Reid’s outrageous claim:

  • It’s all lies? So I haven’t been cut to 25 hrs/wk? Awesome!
  • And yet it was Obama’s oft-repeated promise that we could keep our doctors and our plans that was judge 2013 Lie of the Year.
  • Harry Reid can smear cancer patients by calling them liars and most of our media just ignores it.
  • Typical of the left to accuse Conservatives of doing what THEY are actually doing!
  • I lost my insurance. That’s true. I cannot stand liars like Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.
  • Discounting Americans’ personal stories. Shameful.
  • “Shameful” is Harry Reid’s middle name.

Tweeters also sent around links to some of these allegedly untrue horror stories.

We’re supposed to believe the KOCH BROTHERS are behind ALL THIS when they can’t even engineer a majority in the Senate?! Bwahahahahahahaha! 

Update: Reid walked back on his statement. And by that I mean he shifted his lying feet about 1 centimeter, from all the horror stories are lies to the vast, vast majority of the ones the Koch Brothers finance are lies.

Puh-leeze. This is the same man who once swore that he had it on good authority that Mitt Romney had not paid his taxes in years. That was a big fat lie as well … not that the Democrat Media Machine cared.

Sources:

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Filed under Democrats, Harry Reid, Koch Brothers, Obamacare, Republicans, U.S. Senate

by | January 28, 2014 · 11:36 pm

No tax dollars for baby killers

I wrote to my congressman about H.R.7 and got this back: “I firmly believe that Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars should not be used to perform abortions. It is too much to ask of Americans who fundamentally disagree with the procedure.” Yay!

When I googled to make sure I had the bill number right, I saw this. We call ourselves “Pro-Life”, but the Slimestream Media has decided we don’t deserve to be respected with the name we prefer. I think we should play turn-about and call the NARAL crowd “Anti-Life.”

2014_01 28 I'm going to start using Anti-Life

N.b., that’s a qualified “Yay!” up there. If this goes to the Senate, Chuckie Schmucker and his toadie Kirsten will vote against it two times. So sigh. But at least I have one person representing my beliefs, which is one more than I had before we got redistricted.

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Filed under Abortion, Media Bias, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate

by | December 14, 2013 · 12:38 pm

If Øcare is so great, then why don’t they want it?

OBAMACARE Exempt

March 2010: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

PPACA Section 1312(d)(3)(D) (enacted as public law 111-148) requires all members of Congress and congressional staff to get Obamacare.

(D) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN THE EXCHANGE-

(i) REQUIREMENT – Notwithstanding any other provision of law, after the effective date of this subtitle, the only health plans that the Federal Government may make available to Members of Congress and congressional staff with respect to their service as a Member of Congress or congressional staff shall be health plans that are:

I) created under this act; or

II) offered through an Exchange established under this Act (or an amendment made by this Act).

July-August 2013: President Obama, Members of Congress and Karen Archuleta – Obama’s appointed head the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – meet in closed door sessions to discuss the troubling (to them) fact that under Obamacare, they would not only lose their gold-plated healthcare coverage, but they’d also lose the hefty percentage of the premiums that taxpayers kick in as “employer contributions.”

Sept 2013: OPM issued a 17-page document unilaterally overturning Section 1312(d)(3)(D) of the Obamacare LAW, so Members of Congress can stay on their cushy plans-with-benefits and not have to endure the odious high costs and rotten coverage that PPACA is forcing on the rest of us.

Do these people need taxpayers helping out with their premiums? Hmmmmm, let me think.

  • Annual salary for President Barack Obama (D) = $400,000
  • Annual salary for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) = $174,000
  • Annual salary for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): $193,400
  • (These amounts are ONLY their personal salaries. They do not include the additional moneys allocated for staff, travel and other perqs.)

Senator Vitter (R-Louisiana) responded to this OPM law breaking with Senate Bill 1497: “No Exemption for Washington from Obamacare Act.” Co-sponsors of the bill include Ted Cruz, Ted Inhofe, Michael Enzi, Ron Johnson, Dean Heller, Lindsey Graham, and Mike Lee.

  • In order for this legislation to be brought to the floor of the Senate, it must be approved by the Senate Majority Leader.
  • The current Senate Majority Leader is Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) who routinely blocks any bill presented by Republicans, even if they’ve been passed in the House by a bi-partisan majority and are popular with the people.
  • Senator Reid has refused to allow Vitter’s bill to even be DISCUSSED by the Senate, never mind brought to a vote. As long as the Democrats hold a majority of the seats in the Senate, this situation will not change.

Source:

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Filed under Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Kathleen Sebelius, Nancy Pelosi, Obamacare, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate

by | December 6, 2013 · 10:07 am

A quick historical look at H.R. 3590 (111th Congress)

Obamacare was all Democrat

October 8, 2009: H.R. 3590 (111th Congress): Service Members Home Ownership Tax Act of 2009

PURPOSE: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the first-time homebuyers credit in the case of members of the Armed Forces and certain other Federal employees, and for other purposes. The original text is @ http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:1:./temp/~c111X9TifA::

PASSED: 416 YAY vs. 0 NAY.

December 24, 2009: H.R. 3590 (111th Congress): Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA)

PURPOSE: To hijack a revenue bill started in the House in order to ram through the Senate’s health care bill, which the House refused to initiate as is required by the Constitution for all revenue bills. The only thing the Senate kept was the number “H.R. 3590”; everything after that was completely DIFFERENT.

PASSED: 60 YAY (all Democrats*) vs. 39 NAY (all Republicans)

*Two YAY votes were cast by Independents who caucus with Democrats.

March 21, 2010: H.R. 3590 (111th Congress): Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA)

PURPOSE: Any bill amended by the Senate must be returned to the House for another vote. This bill was not “amended” so much as it was entirely REWRITTEN in a blatant effort to by-pass the intention of the Founders TO PROTECT THE PEOPLE FROM BEING TAXED WITHOUT SUFFICIENT REPRESENTATION.

PASSED: YAY 219 (all Democrats) vs. NAY 212 (16% Democrats, 84% Republicans)

March 23, 2010: H.R. 3590 (111th Congress): Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA)

SIGNED by President Barack Obama (Democrat)

Source:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/111/hr3590#overview

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Filed under Barack Obama, Democrats, Obamacare, Republicans, U.S. Senate

by | December 3, 2013 · 3:12 am

An Outbreak of Lawlessness

2013_11 No rules

EXCERPTED FROM: An Outbreak of Lawlessness By Charles Krauthammer – November 28, 2013

If a bare majority can change the fundamental rules that govern an institution, then there are no rules. … As of today, the Senate effectively has no rules. Congratulations, Harry Reid. Finally, something you will be remembered for.

Barack Obama may be remembered for something similar. … Desperate to deflect the opprobrium heaped upon him for the false promise that you could keep your health plan if you wanted to, [he called] a hasty news conference urging both insurers and the states to reinstate millions of such plans. …

The law remains unchanged. The regulations governing that law remain unchanged. Nothing is changed except for a president proposing to unilaterally change his own law from the White House pressroom.

That’s banana-republic stuff. …

And worse. When Congress tried to make Obama’s “fix” legal — i.e., through legislation — he opposed it. He even said he would veto it. Imagine: vetoing the very bill that would legally enact his own illegal fix. …

One day, when a few bottled-up judicial nominees and a malfunctioning health-care website are barely a memory, we will still be dealing with the toxic residue of this outbreak of authoritative lawlessness.

Read the rest @ http://www.nationalreview.com/article/365101/outbreak-lawlessness-charles-krauthammer

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Filed under Barack Obama, Charles Krauthammer, Harry Reid, U.S. Senate

by | November 21, 2013 · 8:33 pm

This could bite them in the butt

November 21, 2013: The Democrat-majority United States Senate struck down a rule that had been in place for 225 YEARS … because at the moment, it benefits them. Previously, the rule mandated that when the President nominates people to positions requiring Senate approval, those people had to gain a minimum of 60 votes in favor of the nomination before they could take office.

Back in 2005, when Bush and the then-Republican-majority in the Senate tried to can this 60+ rule in favor of a simple 51 vote majority, Democrats (including Barack Obama and Harry Reid) screamed it was the political equivalent of a nuclear assault. But that was then and this is now, so they nuked away and Obama’s appointees will all sail on to their federal judicial benches or presidential cabinet positions.

This video is really worth the time. WATCH Biden, Clinton and Schumer rant about how power-grabby Republicans are and how when they get back into power, they won’t even think about doing anything so heinous is really rich, considering how they JUST DID EXACTLY THAT.

The shoe is on the other foot [4:55]

The Senate has currently 55 Democrat vs. 45 Republican, with a Democrat tie breaker. So yeah … they’ve got the power right now. And they’ve shown how little regard they have for the right-wing voters of this nation. They’ve consistently refused to allow bills the Republican-majority House has passed to come to the Senate floor for a vote. And now they’ve done this.

The problem is that rule changes that benefit one party can easily benefit the other down the road. I remember this happening with Massachusetts where state Democrats changed a rule to get their guy appointed to a vacating seat in Congress, but then later on, the changed rule put a Republican into a vacating seat.

Next November, 35 Senate seats will be on the ballot: 21 are currently held by Democrats; 14 are currently held by Republicans. It looks to me like Democrats have a lot more to lose with this rule change than Republicans do.

Source:

H/t Pistol Pete

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Filed under Democrats, Republicans, U.S. Senate

by | November 18, 2013 · 7:12 pm

The ACA tax and the Origination Clause

Remember when SCOTUS ruled 5-4 that the IRS fine in ObamaCare was a tax, so therefore, it was constitutional? Roberts may not have been selling out, but instead going for a longer, surer end to the monstrous law.

As I understand it, the fine/tax challenge SCOTUS ruled on was somewhat limited; ruling against it wouldn’t have killed the whole law. But ruling it a tax could potentially kill the whole thing dead, Dead, DEAD … because the Constitution says revenue-raising bills (i.e., tax laws) must originate in the House of Representatives and the ACA “Obamacare” bill originated in the Senate.

Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges ObamaCare on this basis. The lowest court found for Obama and it’s now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

HR 3590 amendation was a sham

More than 40 members of the House have signed onto the lawsuit saying, “Given that an Origination Clause challenge against a taxing bill of this magnitude has never before been mounted, it is imperative that this Court not sanction the lower court’s superficial analysis of the Origination Clause.”

“Since the 2010 elections, the people’s immediate representatives have voted some 40 times to repeal or defund the ACA, but the senators, who sit for six years unchallenged, have never agreed. The Framers’ exact fear of taxation without adequate representation has materialized due to the complete disregard of the mandates of the Origination Clause by the U.S. Senate.”

Source:

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Filed under IRS, Obamacare, Supreme Court, Taxes, U.S. Senate