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The House Armed Services Committee has scheduled the first hearings to review the "don't ask don't tell" law since it was enacted in 1993 under President Clinton. The law disqualifies homosexuals from serving in the military. Individuals are deemed homosexual, according to this law, if they publicly state so. However, the military is prohibited from asking. Thus, "don't ask don't tell." Activists are now pushing for change to allow homosexuals to serve openly. The discussion we can anticipate will be technical. Does the presence of openly homosexual soldiers undermine "cohesiveness" of units, morale and discipline? How would retention rates of...

After writing favorably about Sen. McCain’s recent economics speeches, where he clearly shifted toward the supply-side both on tax cuts and producing more energy, I went back last evening and carefully read his 15-page policy pamphlet called “Jobs for America.” Here’s what I found: There is no mention of cap-and-trade. None. Nada. There is a section about “Cheap, Clean, Secure Energy for America: The Lexington Project.” But that talks about expanded domestic production of oil and gas, as well as the need for more nuclear power and coal along with alternative sources. Then it has the $300 million battery and...

Senator John Warner (R-Virginia) suggested that Congress consider banning unnecessary automobile travel in order to help save gasoline. “In 1974, when we faced oil prices of $12 per barrel, Congress set a national 55 mph speed limit,” Warner remembered. “Studies showed that this saved 167,000 barrels of oil per day and reduced highway fatalities by an estimated 4,000 per year. Now, with oil prices more than ten-times higher we need more drastic action.” Under Warner’s proposal all non-essential automobile travel would be banned. A “Bureau of Travel Permits” would be established within the Department of Transportation and charged with determining...

West African bushmen are denied U.S. visas They'd been recruited to build a mud-hut village at a Staunton museum Thursday, Jul 03, 2008 - 12:55 AM By CARLOS SANTOS TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER • PDF: Letter STAUNTON -- Three West African bushmen recruited to build an authentic mud-hut village at the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia were denied visas because they are too poor and inarticulate. In a letter to Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., Debra Heien, chief of the consular section for the U.S. in Nigeria, said one applicant "could not articulate anything about the project. . . . The...

Influential Republican senator, John Warner of Virginia, suggested on Thursday that Congress consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to investigate what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. Warner said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit. In 1974, Congress set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline...

John McCain is a fighter -- at least when it comes to defending his military record. Today, a "Truth Squad" for the presumptive Republican nominee forcefully rejected General Wesley Clark's comments that McCain lacks foreign policy experience, and suggested Barack Obama do the same. Led by John Warner, a Virginia Republican who serves with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the squad blasted Clark and sought to reenforce the military reputation of McCain, a former Vietnam POW who once headed the largest Navy aviation squadron. "I find General Clark's comments to be unworthy, unseemly, for someone of his stature....

Democrats have placed a big bulls-eye on VA. Retiring Republican Senator John Warner's seat is in danger of being flipped by Democrat Mark Warner. Obama wants to make a play for the state. But the Dems can't keep their hands out of the cookie jar, giving Republicans a big stick.

By pushing a bill that distances himself from the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate on offshore drilling, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia is picking a curious time to exercise his well-known independence. Webb wants his home state to have the right to explore for energy off Virginia’s coast. His staff insists his proposal pertains only to natural gas, and not oil, and that it is completely in line with the state’s other two leading Democrats — Gov. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Mark Warner, who is running for Senate. Yet by attaching his name to the bill, sponsored by...

Many Americans think that switching to energy-efficient light bulbs, buying environmentally friendly appliances and obeying a (100% recycled) bag of green living tips will be the extent of their contribution to curbing greenhouse gases. But the price tag to consumers could be a lot higher if some politicians have their way. In fact, U.S. households could expect a $2,900 annual hit to their family budget sooner than they think.That's just one figure causing concern as politicians race to address global warming. Therefore, it's worth noting that at the same time Americans are concerned about climate change, they are also very...

The most obvious lesson to be learned from the U.S. Senate's failure to mount any sort of grown-up debate on climate change last week is that the country needs a new occupant in the White House. By that we mean a president who not only understands and cares deeply about the issue - which both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain say they do, and which President Bush clearly does not - but who is also willing to invest the time and the political capital necessary to push good legislation through Congress. The bill that died in the Senate sought...

Lieberman Hopeful, Despite Global Warming Bill's FailureBy JESSE A. HAMILTON | Washington Bureau Chief June 7, 2008 WASHINGTON — - It wasn't really about winning, anyway. So nobody's crying over the Friday defeat of a Senate bill to counter global warming. Not even Sen. Joe Lieberman, whose name was on it. The bill to slash industrial carbon emissions — a massive and deep-reaching piece of legislation known as the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act — was the 2008 shot at doing something about the climate warming trend. As expected, it burned out. But the politics is in the details, and in...

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) on Friday sought to end recent speculation surrounding his support for former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore (R), saying his stance has not changed since a statement last November in which he pledged financial support for Virginia GOP candidates but will not actively campaign. Warner's office issued a statement saluting Gilmore and announcing that he has contributed $2,000 toward his candidacy this month. But he added that he will "defer taking an active role in political campaigns or the district and statewide Republican nominating conventions." Gilmore last Saturday won the GOP nomination to succeed Warner, who is...

U.S. carbon-capping climate bill dies in Senate 11 minutes ago U.S. legislation that would have set up a cap-and-trade system to limit climate-warming carbon emissions died on Friday after a procedural vote in the Senate. The bill aimed to cut total U.S. global warming emissions by 66 percent by 2050. Opponents said it would cost U.S. jobs and raise fuel prices in an already pinched American economy.

Earlier this week, we spoke to Senator James Inhofe from the Senate floor, where he led the opposition in debate on the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill. He seemed confident that the bill would not pass in the Senate, and told us that the overwhelming vote to open debate had nothing to do with support for the bill, but the opportunity to argue against massive regulation of energy production in the US. Inhofe apparently had it more right than he knew, as it appears that the debate will end much more quickly than anyone guessed — and that the bill is dead...

Excerpt: This week’s Climate Tax Bill debate revealed many useful insights into why the American people will remain skeptical of a global warming cap-and-trade system. The Wall Street Journal aptly noted on June 6 that environmentalists are "stunned that their global warming agenda is in collapse" after the Climate Tax Bill debate. "The green groups now look as politically intimidating as the skinny kid on the beach who gets sand kicked in his face. Those groups spent millions advertising and lobbying to push the cap-and-trade bill through the Senate," the paper noted. "With gasoline selling at $4 a gallon, the...

f this week's Senate debate on a proposed cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases was supposed to be a dress rehearsal for climate legislation, things are not looking too good for opening night. The week has been marked by parliamentary maneuvers and bitter accusations over divergent estimates of the bill's future costs. On Wednesday, a group of GOP senators asked that the clerk of the Senate read the entire 491-page bill aloud, an extremely rare request. That took more than 10 hours. Although parliamentary maneuvers could still extend the debate into next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) faced...

Legislation to combat global warming by putting limits on greenhouse gas emissions appeared headed to defeat as Democrats and Republicans accused each other of manipulating Senate rules to impede it. Opponents of the bill, co-authored by Sen. John Warner of Virginia, are "trying to fritter away the time" that Senate leaders had set aside for debate, Democratic Sen. John Kerry charged. On Wednesday, Republicans forced Democrats to have the 492-page bill read aloud on the floor, taking up more than nine hours. Majority Leader Harry Reid then scheduled a showdown vote for this morning on a motion to limit additional...

Call your Senators and Urge them to Vote NO on S. 3036! After promising to allow an open and lengthy debate on America's Climate Security Act (S. 3036), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture to proceed to final passage, allowing NO AMENDMENTS and only ONE DAY for debate of a massive energy tax increase on American consumers. The Senate will vote on cloture tomorrow, Friday morning, June 6th! The latest word is that Senator Reid is actively working to gain over 50 votes for cloture. We cannot allow this many Senators to vote YES. Environmental groups will spin...

I'm sorry, fellows. Do you really think the world is filled with morons? When it comes to bait and switch, used car salesmen are paragons of virtue compared to this global warming crowd. Excuse me. It's not the ``global warming'' crowd now; it's the ``climate change'' crowd. Of course, they don't want any of us to own automobiles; so what the heck. They can act like used car salesmen because there will be more jobs for them as being advocates in the climate change arena.

To: STATE EDITORS Contact: David Almasi, +1-202-543-4110, for National Center for Public Policy Research WASHINGTON, May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As the Senate is poised to vote on the Lieberman-Warner America's Climate Security Act, a new poll finds an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the higher energy costs the bill would impose. The poll, conducted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, found 65% of Americans reject spending even a penny more for gasoline in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The number rejecting raising gas prices to combat global warming has increased by 17 percentage points -- or...

We wrote here about the economic disaster that goes by the name Lieberman-Warner, the carbon cap-and-trade system now being considered by the Senate. We posted a diagram created by the Chamber of Commerce that exposed the ludicrous complexity and intrusiveness of the proposal. The bill, as amended by Barbara Boxer, has now gotten even worse. Boxer's amendment adds more than 300 regulations and mandates. The Chamber has accordingly prepared another version of their chart that reflects Boxer's changes. It is a remarkable document; click to enlarge: This morning, four Republican Senators held a press conference on Lieberman-Warner. Jim Inhofe of...

Conventional wisdom suggests that times of high economic growth would be the most appropriate occasion to enact legislation that could be very expensive for American taxpayers. That’s not the case for Democratic California Sen. Barbara Boxer. Boxer, who is the chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and advocating the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade legislation, said a “recession” is the best time to do it because it will bring us “hope.” “[S]ome of our colleagues will say this: Why do this now? We are in a recession. Precisely because we are in a recession is why we should be...

This week, the Senate debates America’s Climate Security Act (S. 2191), sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I., Conn.) and John Warner (R., Va). The Lieberman-Warner bill (LW) would restrict energy use to combat global warming. Like global warming itself, the bill has undergone considerable hype and little hard-nosed analysis. Several myths need to be dispelled.Myth #1: LW wouldn’t be expensive. Fact: LW works like a massive energy tax. By restricting carbon-dioxide emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas — with a freeze at 2005 levels beginning in 2012, to a 70-percent reduction in 2050 — the bill forces down supply...

Cap-and-trade is a huge tax hidden in a bureaucratic labyrinth of opaque permit transactions An unprecedentedly radical government grab for control of the American economy will be debated this week when the Senate considers saving the planet by means of a cap-and-trade system to ration carbon emissions. The plan is co-authored (with John Warner) by Joe Lieberman, an ardent supporter of John McCain, who supports Lieberman’s legislation and recently spoke about “the central facts of rising temperatures, rising waters and all the endless troubles that global warming will bring.” Speaking of endless troubles, “cap-and-trade” comes cloaked in reassuring rhetoric about...

Keeping you up to date: I told you this morning about the Lieberman-Warner “climate change” boondoggle. At 6:25pm Eastern tonight, the Senate voted on the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S.3036 ). It passed 74-14, with 12 not voting. Thirteen GOP senators plus Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd (yes, Robert Byrd) opposed the massive eco-pork bill that would perpetuate the carbon offset/cap-and-trade fraud.

  Major policy decisions require weighing of trade­offs, and that is especially true with regard to global warming. Clearly, the American people would not benefit from measures designed to address global warming that do more economic harm than environ­mental good. For this reason, it is important to weigh the consequences of any proposed climate legislation: both the costs to the American people and the bene­fits in the form of reduced adverse impacts from glo­bal warming.This Backgrounder is a companion to the Center for Data Analysis (CDA) report titled "The Economic Costs of the Lieberman–Warner Climate Change Leg­islation."[1] It concludes that...

We’ll have to discard the old adage “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” It is inoperative in this era of global warming, because the whole point of controlling greenhouse gas emissions is to do something about the weather. This promises to be hard and perhaps futile, but there are good and bad ways of attempting it. One of the bad ways is cap-and-trade. Unfortunately, it’s the darling of environmental groups and their political allies. The chief political virtue of cap-and-trade—a complex scheme to reduce greenhouse gases—is its complexity. This allows its environmental supporters to...

In the mid-1990s, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, then a proud Democrat, dropped by the Republican-American's offices for a rare visit with the editorial board. He started ticking off the dangers of global warming caused by carbon-dioxide emissions, but one of our editors had just finished reading a lengthy article by the Hoover Institution's Thomas Gale Moore showing past warming had benefited human civilization and helped bring an end to the Dark Ages. Sen. Lieberman was utterly unaware of this research; even more disturbingly, he did not seem interested in learning more about it. He remains a global-warming dogmatist, brooking no...

This week, one of the biggest legislative and lobbying wars of 2008 comes to a head as the Senate takes up a controversial bill to curb climate change. Named for its original sponsors, Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., the bill would establish a market-based mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 66% by 2050. And while there's little chance it will pass right now, lawmakers and businesses are paying strict attention. They see it as the precursor to new laws within the next few years, and everyone--from energy companies to automakers to manufacturers--wants to...

Some facts on climate legislationPublished on Sunday, Jun 01, 2008 Here are questions about the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act that the Senate is to begin debating this week: Q: What is it? A: The bill by Sens. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va., would create a ''cap-and-trade'' program designed to reduce environmentally harmful carbon dioxide emissions by power companies, big manufacturers, refineries and other businesses. Q: How would it work? A: Affected companies would be forced to meet new limits — the ''cap'' part — on their emissions. They would have to reduce emissions by about 2 percent each...

The Economics of America’s Climate Security Act of 2007S.2191, Lieberman-Warner Climate Bill White Paper   Senator James M. InhofeRanking MemberUnited States Senate Committee onEnvironment and Public WorksMay 2008 National EconomyFamiliesPoorest Bear the Biggest Costs of Lieberman-WarnerIntroductionThe issue of climate change is now at the forefront of American environmental policy.  While the science behind the causes of recent warming trends has been argued vigorously in the past, the debate over the economic costs of addressing this issue has been relatively quiet until now.  However, on this issue there is little to debate at all. Leaders from both sides of the...

On June 2, the United States Senate will begin debate on America's Climate Security Act (S. 2191), sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA). The Lieberman-Warner bill (LW) would restrict energy use to combat global warming. Like global warming itself, the bill has been the subject of considerable hype and little hard-nosed analysis. For this reason, there are several myths about it that need to be dispelled.Myth #1: LW would not be expensive.Fact: Simply put, LW works like a massive energy tax. By restricting carbon dioxide emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas--with a freeze at...

Introduction and summaryThe United States Senate will soon begin debate on America's Climate Security Act of 2007, popularly referred to as the Lieberman-Warner bill after its chief sponsors, Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA).The legislation ostensibly is intended to cut U.S. industrial emissions of greenhouse gases in an effort to reduce the risk of catastrophic global warming.  Senator Lieberman has estimated the bill would reduce overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by up to 63% by 2050.1  The policies the legislation would impose, however, have little hope of meeting this target and would likely have little impact on...

A bill going to the U.S. Senate next week seeking deep cuts in U.S. greenhouse gases by 2050 is a "first step" but not enough to avert damaging climate change, the head of the U.N. Climate Panel said on Friday. Rajendra Pachauri also said that even tougher plans by some other developed nations to rein in emissions were insufficient to head off some projected impacts of global warming, ranging from more heatwaves and droughts to rising seas. The U.S. bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut independent and Sen. John Warner, a Virginia Republican, seeks to cut U.S. emissions...

Workers and families in the state of Virginia may be wondering how climate change legislation before Congress will affect their income, their jobs, and the cost of energy. Members of Congress are considering a number of bills designed to address climate change. Chief among them is S. 2191, America's Climate Security Act of 2007, introduced by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and John Warner (R-VA). 1 The Lieberman–Warner legislation promises extraordinary perils for the American economy, should it become law, all for very little change in global temperature…perhaps even smaller than the .07 of a degree Celsius drop in temperature that...

The Senate's leading climate-change bill, while aiming to combat global warming by reducing carbon dioxide in the air, actually poses "extraordinary perils" for Americans and the economy, according to a new study from The Heritage Foundation. The study, produced by Heritage's Center for Data Analysis (CDA), forecasts severe consequences—including crushing energy costs, millions of jobs lost and falling household income—if Congress enacts the so-called Lieberman-Warner bill. What follows are 50 state-by-state breakouts of the impact the bill would have on jobs and the economy.

Senate Republicans began an unusual closed-door debate on climate change Wednesday that may portend a shift toward the position of the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.). The meeting of the conference launched GOP efforts to find a common position on global warming, an issue on which Republicans have been sharply divided. The issue has taken on a greater urgency within Republican circles now that all the major presidential candidates, including McCain, support mandatory controls of greenhouse gases. This represents a sharp break with the Bush administration, which has fought such proposals vigorously. Wednesday’s meeting did not produce...

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) is calling on presumptive GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) to sign on as a co-sponsor to his GI bill, which would improve educational benefits to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “McCain needs to get on the bill,” Webb told reporters after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting on Wednesday. He said legislation mirroring the post-World War II GI bill should not be considered a “political issue.” Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Il.), the Democratic presidential candidates, both have signed on to the bill. In a major coup for...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sen. John Warner's office says the Virginian has left a hospital and returned to work after doctors successfully treated his irregular heartbeat with new medications and rhythm treatments for atrial fibrillation.

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Sen. John Warner, R-Va., was in a Virginia hospital Tuesday for observation of a heart condition. Warner, 81, has suffered atrial fibrillation, which can cause an irregular heartbeat, since last fall, his office said. On Monday, he "consulted with the capitol physician, completed his office appointments and left for a scheduled admission to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he remains for observation," the office said in a statement Tuesday. Warner's heart rate and rhythm have been normal in recent months, the statement said, but he "recently experienced a return of atrial fibrillation" . . .

To The Honorable Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee During the Democratic Debate between Senators Clinton and Obama televised on the evening of February 21st, Senator Obama spoke of information passed on to him by an officer in the United States Army about our forces in Afghanistan suffering from a shortage of equipment and weapons. The very next day, a member and former Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Warner, sent a letter to Senator Obama, asking for information about these charges. Senator Warner wrote: "...I, and I believe other members of SASC, have a responsibility to establish...

Sen. Warner Calls For Hearing on Obama's Taliban Claims Warner to Obama- "Bring it." Senator John Warner wants an explanation from Obama on his suspect attack on the military from an anonymous source that occurred 5 years ago.Click to EnlargeSenator John Warner (Rep.-Virginia) sent Barack Obama a letter about the claims he made against the military last night during his debate with Hillary Clinton. (Washington Post pdf) From today's AP article on the outrageous claims by Senator Obama on the military: Sen. John Warner, a supporter of likely GOP presidential nominee John McCain, sent Obama a letter Friday asking...

A former Talk-Show host on this station once announced a "RINO Hunt" at election time. "Time to purge the party of anybody who isn't a lock-step conservative," he said. So this host went ‘a huntin’. And he laughed with glee every time a Republican moderate lost an election. "That'll teach 'em," he said. Ok, if you say so. But I just checked: It’s been four years since his great "RINO Hunt," and each of those seats, where he was so gleeful to see the “Republican In Name Only” lose, is now occupied by a Democrat. Now, why was he so...

Duncan Getchell, President Bush’s choice for a spot on a key appellate court, has withdrawn his nomination after his confirmation by the full Senate seemed to be in peril. Bush nominated Getchell in September for a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which covers Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. Getchell was selected to fill one of the four seats traditionally held by Virginia. But the choice came under immediate criticism in Congress since Virginia’s senators, John Warner (R) and Jim Webb (D), did not recommend Getchell to the post. By choosing Getchell, critics...

Dallas, TX - The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is expected today to debate amendments to a bill proposed by Sens. Lieberman (I-CT) and Warner (R-VA) that would create a "cap and trade" system designed to cut total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. Yet an expert with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) says the cap and trade system would slow economic growth with little if any environmental improvement to show for it. "Back in 1997 the Senate took the sensible position that the U.S. should not adopt any climate treaty that would either harm the economy or that...

WASHINGTON -- Democrats turned back repeated efforts by Republican senators to soften the economic impact of a global warming bill before advancing it out of a Senate committee on Wednesday. It was the first bill calling for mandatory U.S. limits on so-called greenhouse gases to be taken up in Congress since global warming emerged as an environmental issue more than two decades ago. The bill was approved 11-8 by the Environment and Public Works Committee. GOP critics of the bill argued that limiting greenhouse gas emissions could become a hardship because of higher energy costs. But Sen. John Warner of...

Senate panel OKs global warming bill By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago Democrats turned back repeated efforts by Republican senators to soften the economic impact of a global warming bill before advancing it out of a Senate committee on Wednesday. It was the first bill calling for mandatory U.S. limits on so-called greenhouse gases to be taken up in Congress since global warming emerged as an environmental issue more than two decades ago. The bill was approved 11-8 by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. GOP critics of the bill argued that limiting greenhouse gas...

Global Warming Vote on Snowy Day in Washington: Senate committee debates expensive climate change bill as two inches of snow blanket D.C. Nothing inspires taking on the “planetary emergency” of global warming like the first snow of the winter in Washington, D.C. As two inches of snow accumulated outside the U.S. Capitol, the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee debated “historic” global warming legislation sponsored by Sens. John Warner (R.-Va.) and Joe Lieberman (I.-Conn.). “We look around right now and see the snow on the trees – standing out here and say ‘Where is global warming when you need...

Please call Senator and House members of the Defense Authorization conference committee and urge them to remove the Hate Crimes provision in the Defense spending bill. Down to the Wire on Hate (Thought) Crimes December 4, 2007 - Tuesday In an attempt to force the veto pen of President Bush, liberals on Capitol Hill have inserted the hate (thought) crimes language into the Defense Authorization bill expanding both the definition of hate crimes and of those who can be found culpable under these provisions. The definition is broadened to include sexual orientation among the protected classes, elevating sexual attraction...