Free Republic

As attention turns to the 112th Congress -- and the 2012 cycle -- the political ramifications of the sprint to close the 111th Congress are becoming clear. Several members of the 111th Congress may find themselves in competitive Senate races in 2012 and an analysis of their voting decisions during the lame duck session offers a few clues about what is in store for some of 2012's marquee contests. The debate over Pres. Obama's compromise on the extension of the Bush tax cuts, a central focus of the session, shed some light on the 2012 Nevada Senate race. Sen. John...

Today, 12/22/2010, finally ended the orgy of political abuse by the Gang of Lame Ducks, led by Nazi Bela Lugosi (aka Nancy Pelosi) and Dirty Harry “Squeaky” Reid, known officially as the end of the 111th Congress. (My personal suggestion is to replace the 1′s with 6′s for a more appropriate appellation.) After the “shellacking” that Obama and the Demonrats took on 11/04/2010, the filthy pack of third-world politicos used scorched earth politics to ram the remainder of their agenda down the throats of the dismayed – but at this point – not-altogether-surprised American public The weeks from 11/04 to...

... to Pilfer and Sabotage Operative word for conservatives: VIGILANCE The so-called progressives aren't done with their date-rape of this country just yet... As legislators return to the Hill today, don't let the reported "slow start" to the congressional lame duck session lull you into complacency... rather expect the worst and keep your guard up for a sharp left-hook at anytime over the coming weeks. From it's deathbed, the fading Obama-Reid-Pelosi triumvirate is apt to ram-through anything they can get the votes for: it's not like they'll be restrained by any scruples- and you already know what they think of...

Dem lame-duck agenda shrinking fast after Election Day 'shellacking'By Alexander Bolton - 11/08/10 05:00 AM ET Democratic allies are not optimistic about their legislative priorities getting done in the lame-duck session after Democratic candidates got pummeled on Election Day. Senate Democrats had discussed as many as 20 bills up for consideration during the lame-duck session, the period between the Nov. 2 election and Christmas. In the wake of a midterm election that President Obama called a “shellacking” of his party, Democratic insiders question if anything more than a stopgap spending measure and temporary extension of Bush-era tax cuts can pass....

One of the top priorities of the coming lame duck session of Congress will be the formal repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," aka U.S. Code Title 10, Section 654. Obama won't have another chance to shove it through before 2012, and he wants the gay community on his side then. He will probably also want to repeal Article 125 - Sodomy in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.  Read at least the "Findings" part of Section 654 before you go any further. It contains a good summary of the logic that was used at the time that "Don't...

Kirk to miss part of lame-duck sessionUpdated at 11:36 AM today November 6, 2010 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- Illinois Republican Mark Kirk won't be seated in the U.S. Senate in time for the start of the lame duck session of Congress this month -- unlike two other newly elected senators. The session begins Nov. 15. But state officials say the paperwork officially declaring Kirk the winner of the Senate race won't be delivered until Nov. 29. That should still allow Kirk to participate in two weeks of the session in December. He argued strongly during the campaign that voters needed to...

A mother feeding the ducks with her two children was stunned when she was told off by a council warden - for giving the birds 'unhealthy' white bread. Lisa Taplin, 34, was told by the park ranger to bring granary or wholemeal bread next time as it was better for the ducks.

Lame duck dangersFriday, October 15, 2010 U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith When a football game goes into overtime or a baseball game goes into extra innings, fans are usually on the edge of their seats with excitement. Unfortunately, when Congress goes into extra innings it usually means bad things for American taxpayers. In Congress, such overtime is called a "lame duck" session, and one is set to take place shortly after the November elections. I am concerned this session will be used as an opportunity by some to bring up controversial issues without the possibility of being held accountable. House Speaker...

Democrats Scale Back Agenda on Their Own Termsby Wendell Goler | October 04, 2010 Even though the president's aides believe Democrats will retain control of the House and Senate, they're prepared for a scaled down legislative agenda after next month's elections. But officials say it's not because Republicans will be calling more of the shots. Part of the reason is that the largest items on Mr. Obama's agenda, including the Recovery Act, health care reform and financial regulatory reform, have already been passed by Congress. Another part of the reason is that few here expect Republicans to follow their likely...

Beware the lame duck appropriatorsBy Alex Cortes - The Daily Caller Updated: 8:49 AM 08/12/2010 Republicans have been raising the concern of a lame-duck session of Congress where the Democrats will attempt to shove Cap and Trade, Card Check, and other tired, statist policies down the American people’s throats. Although such new authorizations would be a slap in the face to a public that just issued a new governing mandate, this concern is misdirected and minuscule compared to an even greater lame duck challenge. The radical policies the Lame Duck Democrats may attempt to authorize honestly have little to no...

The Senate’s lame-duck session would begin the week of Nov. 15, according to an internal document obtained by The Hill. Under a scheduled laid out by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the Senate would return on Monday, Nov. 15 for a single week before breaking for the week of Thanksgiving. The upper chamber would then return to business on Monday, Nov. 29. It is not clear how long the Senate would then remain in session. The House has not announced a preliminary schedule for post-election sessions. Congress could have to consider appropriations bills after the election, as well as what...

A Bosnian man who claims he is being targeted by extraterrestrials after a series of meteorite strikes on his house has now been hit by a sixth space rock in the space of a few years. Radivoje Lajic first came to international attention in 2008, shortly after the fifth meteorite had crashed into the roof of his house in the northern village of Gornji Lajici. And now, within the past month, another rock has hit the roof of his house, in defiance of all the odds - making it six strikes since the plague of meteorites began in 2007. Experts...

Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September. Members gulped when National Journal's Charlie Cook, the Beltway's leading political handicapper, predicted last month "the House is gone," meaning a GOP takeover. He thinks Democrats will hold the Senate, but with a significantly reduced majority. The rush to recess gives Democrats little time to pass any major laws. That's why there have been signs in recent weeks that party leaders are planning an ambitious, lame-duck session to muscle through bills in December...

Union 'card-check,' cap and trade, and so much more Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September. Members gulped when National Journal's Charlie Cook, the Beltway's leading political handicapper, predicted last month "the House is gone," meaning a GOP takeover. He thinks Democrats will hold the Senate, but with a significantly reduced majority. The rush to recess gives Democrats little time to pass any major laws. That's why there have been signs in recent weeks that party leaders are planning an...

The rush to recess gives Democrats little time to pass any major laws. That's why there have been signs in recent weeks that party leaders are planning an ambitious, lame-duck session to muscle through bills in December they don't want to defend before November. Retiring or defeated members of Congress would then be able to vote for sweeping legislation without any fear of voter retaliation.

Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September. Members gulped when National Journal's Charlie Cook, the Beltway's leading political handicapper, predicted last month "the House is gone," meaning a GOP takeover. He thinks Democrats will hold the Senate, but with a significantly reduced majority.

Democratic House members are so worried about the fall elections they're leaving Washington on July 30, a full week earlier than normal—and they won't return until mid-September. Members gulped when National Journal's Charlie Cook, the Beltway's leading political handicapper, predicted last month "the House is gone," meaning a GOP takeover. He thinks Democrats will hold the Senate, but with a significantly reduced majority. The rush to recess gives Democrats little time to pass any major laws. That's why there have been signs in recent weeks that party leaders are planning an ambitious, lame-duck session to muscle through bills in December...

"An apparently hungry Chalmette man has been arrested for stealing a duck from a public park with the intent of cooking it up for a meal, the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff`s Office said. The Sheriff`s Office said Ashmeer Tahir, 38, 3713 Juno Drive, was booked with theft of an animal Monday after someone saw him remove a muscovie duck from Sidney Torres Park in Chalmette. A sheriff`s deputy found Tahir at his home with a duck inside a bucket in his van, the Sheriff`s Office said in a news release." duck http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/06/chalmette_man_stole_duck_from.html If this dude can afford to live in...

Obama amputates our nuclear arms By: Charles Krauthammer ...snippet...Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.” Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker...

French police said on Thursday they had arrested the suspected military leader of the Basque separatist movement ETA in the south-western city of Bayonne. AFP - French anti-terrorist police on Thursday arrested the suspected military chief of the Basque separatist group ETA, Mikel Karrera Sarobe, police sources said. Two other suspected ETA members -- also Spanish nationals -- were arrested with Karrera Sarobe when detectives and anti-terrorist police raided a house in the southwestern French city of Bayonne at daybreak, the sources said. They were a man and a woman, and one of them is suspected of being the number-two...