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The wife of the most senior Republican in the Senate was arrested Wednesday night after her vehicle struck a parked car. Police said Indiana Sen. Dick Lugar's wife, Charlene, drove her car into the parked vehicle just after 6:15 p.m. Wednesday in their McLean, Va., neighborhood. No injuries were reported.

-- Vote could come as early as MondayHe has been called "extreme" by some. But to others, he's beyond extreme... he's a "Radical's Radical."  Whatever he is, he could become President Obama's next choice for the federal judiciary. This radical is Judge David Hamilton, and he's been nominated for a position on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Hamilton has made many political enemies on the right, seeing that his politics are to the far left of the political spectrum.  Oh yes, judges aren't supposed to be political, but this one has engaged in quite a bit of leftist activism....

"Republican Dede Scozzafava today endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, her former opponent, in Tuesday's election to fill the North Country congressional seat formerly held by John McHugh. Scozzafava suspended her campaign for the 23rd District seat Saturday, citing weak poll numbers and inadequate campaign funds. In a statement released this afternoon, she called Owens ''an independent voice devoted to doing what is right for New York.''"

In these days, President Obama has declared a war on nuclear capabilities around the world. With the watch of Iran's nuclear program, North Korea's missile launches, and the discussions with Russia about the missile defense systems in Europe, Senators Lugar and Nunn have been a help.

Thank you Dr. Moseley for your gracious introduction and your dedicated leadership to Franklin College. I am grateful to the College for extending to me this extraordinary opportunity to share in the celebration of the school’s 175th anniversary. This is truly a signal milestone and one in which all of us gathered this evening and all who have contributed to the rich history of this great institution take enormous pride.

That means at least 4 filthy Republicans supported it. Disgrace!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key U.S. senator asked the Obama administration on Thursday to explain in detail its policy on the Honduran political crisis, warning that otherwise Senate confirmation may be delayed for a U.S. diplomatic nominee for Latin America. "The complexity of events that led up to the Honduran crisis has given rise to questions regarding U.S. policy," Senator Richard Lugar, one of the Senate's most respected voices on foreign policy, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The United States has refused to recognize the Honduran government led by Roberto Micheletti, which took over the Central American nation...

States offer a hodgepodge of concealed-handgun rules that prevent citizens from protecting themselves when traveling from one state to another. Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, introduced an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would have fixed this problem by granting reciprocity for gun permits across state lines. In a 58-39 vote on Wednesday, supporters fell two short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. This was a victory of fear over facts. Thirty-seven of the 39 no votes were cast by Democrats. The two Republicans who crossed party lines to vote nay were Sen. Richard G....

Press Release of Senator Lugar Lugar moves into 12th place in all-time votes Wednesday, July 22, 2009 U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, the Senate’s most senior Republican and longest serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history, moved into 12th place on the all-time Senate voting list, having passed the late Senator William Proxmire who cast 12,133 votes. Lugar’s 12,134th vote was on a Kerry amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. He has maintained a better than 98 percent attendance record during his more than 32 years of Senate service. Lugar is currently the fifth most senior Senator...

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, the Senate’s most senior Republican and longest serving U.S. Senator in Indiana history, moved into 12th place on the all-time Senate voting list, having passed the late Senator William Proxmire who cast 12,133 votes. Lugar’s 12,134th vote was on a Kerry amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. He has maintained a better than 98 percent attendance record during his more than 32 years of Senate service.

Lugar statement on Judge Sotomayor Senator Dick Lugar released the following statement on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to be Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court: “I have listened to the testimony of Judge Sonia Sotomayor before the Senate Judiciary Committee, carefully reviewed her public service record, and reviewed recommendations from Indiana constituents and colleagues here in the Senate. Judge Sotomayor is clearly qualified to serve on the Supreme Court and she has demonstrated a judicial temperament during her week-long nomination hearing. Judge Sotomayor has had a distinguished career of public service. She is well regarded in the...

Indiana Sen. Richard K. Lugar this morning became the first Republican to pledge support for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who appears to have largely diffused allegations of judicial bias during three days of intense questioning about whether she is fit to sit on the nation's highest court. "Judge Sotomayor is clearly qualified . . . and she has demonstrated a judicial temperament during her week-long nomination hearing," Lugar said in a statement. ". . . I will vote to confirm Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to serve as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States."

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- Imagine that. The Senate confirmed this week, by a vote of 62-35, a gun banner who stays up at night thinking of ways to impose more gun control upon American citizens. Harold Koh is that gun grabber, and he was confirmed yesterday to be the Legal Adviser at the State Department. On Wednesday, Senate Republicans attempted to kill the Koh nomination with a filibuster — until eight of them crossed the aisle to help Democrats confirm Koh. The back-stabbing Senators are: Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Susan Collins (R-ME) Judd Gregg (R-NH) Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Richard Lugar (R-IN)...

WASHINGTON – A top Republican senator says the United States should still sit down with Iran, despite postelection turmoil in Tehran. Sen. Richard Lugar says the U.S. has a goal of containing Iran's nuclear ambition. He says the two countries should meet even though there are protests in Tehran over this month's presidential vote.

WASHINGTON—Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in the middle of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S.-China climate change relations, leaned forward in his chair and asked the expert panel, “What’s the catastrophe?” Lugar, a long-time advocate of emissions reductions and global warming prevention, asked the expert panel to clarify just what the disaster would be if carbon emissions are not reduced. The three members of the panel, all experts on greenhouse gas emissions in China, looked at each other and hesitated. The panel had reached a consensus that the United States and China contribute 40 percent of the world’s greenhouse...

US President Barack Obama must press visiting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to accept more help in securing US aid to secure his country's nuclear arsenal, a top senator said Wednesday. ‘He must convince President Zardari to accept more assistance and embrace cooperation,’ said Republican Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Lugar, a leading US foreign policy voice, cited global concerns that unrest in Pakistan could lead to its nuclear weapons, or the raw materials for chemical or biological weapons, ‘falling into the wrong hands.’ ‘President Obama must use this opportunity to gain clarification...

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said Tuesday he will support the nomination of an Indiana University law professor to head the Obama administration’s internal law office. He is the first Republican to publicly declare his backing for Dawn Johnsen, whose selection to head the Office of Legal Counsel has grown into a fight about abortion rights and counterterrorism practices. Some Republicans have promised to try to block Johnsen’s confirmation either because of her support for abortion rights or because she criticized the legal justification used by the Bush administration for the torture of detainees. Lugar’s support does not guarantee the Senate...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Veteran diplomat Christopher Hill on Tuesday won the support of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar to become the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq, even as other GOP senators bluntly urged President Barack Obama to withdraw the nomination. Lugar's backing is considered crucial to Hill's nomination because it would provide other moderate GOP senators political cover to vote for him. Indiana's Lugar is the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee and widely respected on foreign policy matters. A confirmation hearing was planned for March 25.

Former president George W. Bush recast the US relationship with India, forging closer ties. Could President Barack Obama do the same for US policy towards its nuclear-armed rival Pakistan? Upon taking office January 20, Obama ordered a sweeping review of the US strategy for fighting the war in Afghanistan, and US military and diplomatic officials say the road to victory there runs through neighbor Pakistan. Obama is set to unveil his new approach before a major international summit on Afghanistan on March 31 in The Hague -- but already the US Congress is looking to shape US military and development...

The very week Obama proposed cozying up to Castro by dropping some economic and travel sanctions, the biggest political shake-up in twenty years rattled Cuba's regime. Last week Raul Castro purged almost twenty regime officials. The most prominent among the purged were the youngest and most reform-minded (as these things are measured within a Stalinist regime), and they've all been replaced by diehard Stalinist septuagenarians with military and secret police backgrounds. The provisions of Obama's olive branch to Castro are tucked inside his $410 billion spending bill awaiting a vote this very week. They issue largely from recommendations in a...

The U.S. policy of shunning communist Cuba by imposing a strict trade embargo has failed to prod the island nation toward democracy and should be re-evaluated, according to the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances U.S. interests," wrote Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in a report dated Monday. President Barack Obama has promised a fresh look at the U.S. policy. He says he would be open to meeting with Castro, who took over as Cuba's president for his ailing...

Castro's propaganda ministry is not notorious for fawning over Republicans. But lately they've been gushing over the Ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Richard Lugar. "Changing Cuba Policy-Staff Trip Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate," is the title of the report Senator Lugar released on Tuesday February 24rd to delirious and unanimous acclaim from the mainstream media. This acclaim-- to the surprise of no Cuba-watchers--was quickly echoed in Havana. Typically, as with anything spoken or written regarding Castro and Cuba that receives such Beltway media acclaim, the report is a...

Castro's propaganda ministry is not notorious for fawning over Republicans. But lately they've been gushing over the Ranking Republican member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Senator Richard Lugar. "Changing Cuba Policy-Staff Trip Report to the Committee on Foreign Relations United States Senate," is the title of the report Senator Lugar released on Tuesday February 24rd to delirious and unanimous acclaim from the mainstream media. This acclaim-- to the surprise of no Cuba-watchers--was quickly echoed in Havana. Typically, as with anything spoken or written regarding Castro and Cuba that receives such Beltway media acclaim, the report is a...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The time is right for reevaluating US sanctions on Cuba, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says in a new report, calling for allowing Cuba to buy US goods on credit, US media reported Sunday. Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana's opinions are attached to a report due to be released Monday that could add fuel to momentum toward change in almost five decades of US policy seeking to isolate Cuba, the Americas' only communist country. The United States and Cuba do not have full diplomatic relations. And Washington has had a full economic...

The U.S. policy of shunning communist Cuba by imposing a strict trade embargo has failed to prod the island nation toward democracy and should be re-evaluated, according to the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances U.S. interests," wrote Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in a report dated Monday. The report lends new weight to a bipartisan view in Congress that RaDul Castro's rise to power has opened a window for U.S.-Cuban relations. President Obama has promised a fresh look...

WASHINGTON - Every gallon of gas should cost $1 more, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., said, so Americans buy less and the country imports less foreign-made oil. In a Washington Post column dated Sunday, Feb. 1, Lugar endorsed the proposal of a conservative columnist, who advocated the $1-a-gallon tax last month. Charles Krauthammer said the $1 tax should be returned to people through lower payroll taxes or higher Social Security payments so their out-of-pocket expenses are the same.

Tim Geithner is Obama's new treasury secretary, after being confirmed 60-34 last evening in the U.S. Senate. In the end, it appears that Geithner's nomination received nominal GOP support thanks to two points: first, there was no telling who Geithner's replacement would have been (they could have been worse) if the confirmation was derailed and two, some GOPers remain spineless. Until our elected GOP members gain a spine and realize that their place right now is as a strong opposition and oppose bad nominations and bills, the party's troubles will certainly continue. Thirty-two Republicans voted against the nomination (as well...

THIS 2-MINUTE YOUTUBE SAYS IT CLEARLY AND SUCCINCTLY

QUESTIONS FOR SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON'S CONFIRMATION HEARING QUESTION 1 Senator Clinton, during the 2005 criminal trial of your campaign finance chairman, David Rosen, the FBI presented evidence that businessman Peter Paul personally donated $1.2 million to your campaign. Did he personally donate $1.2 million and, if so, why has it not ever been properly reported? QUESTION 2 Regarding the Hollywood Gala, Event 39 as it was called, you have filed four amended FEC reports. Mr. Paul is not named on any of those reports. Has Mr. Paul ever made you aware of his donations, and has he ever demanded to...

Mistake That is Fake by: Cliff Kincaid, June 24, 2008 If Barack Obama wanted to dispel doubts about his national security credentials, he hasn’t done so with the announcement of a new “Senior Working Group on National Security” that includes Dr. Tony Lake, a former national security adviser to Bill Clinton. Lake became a laughingstock for expressing doubts as to whether Alger Hiss, the founder of the United Nations and a top State Department official, was a communist spy. Lake’s doubts led to a controversy that caused him to withdraw his nomination as Clinton’s CIA director. Interestingly, Lake had expressed...

No serious objections expected to Hillary Clinton By ANDREW MIGA and ANNE FLAHERTY – 2 days ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton has held lengthy private discussions ............ NOTE: this is all of the story that will be excerpted from the Associated Press. Eight words from them is enough.

Senator Richard Lugar is the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the committee that begins hearings on Jan. 13 for the nomination of Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton as Secretary of State. I have had several phone conversations with one of Lugar's aides in the committee. He has had several emails providing information about Hillary that, miraculously, no one seemed to know. What, she filed four false FEC reports? What, her campaign finance chairman faced criminal trial in Los Angeles? What, an FBI agent presented evidence at trial that Peter Paul had personally donated $1.2 million to Hillary's campaign?...

Sen. Lugar Thinks His Nightmare Amnesty Can Pass In New Year (will he eliminate Chain Migration first?)   By Roy Beck, Monday, December 15, 2008, 10:23 AM A Fort Wayne, Ind., paper says Sen. Lugar thinks Americans will be so distracted by the bad economy that he will be able to slip the DREAM Act amnesty through the Senate this next year. It is always sad when a truly distinguished statesman, with a record of level-headed leadership, embarrasses himself with outlandish open-borders positions, but it happens all the time. Let me tell you why Lugar's dream of amnesty for illegal-alien...

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar, at the request of a Hoosier who has served in The Old Guard at Arlington National Cemetery, spurred the effort for all service members, regardless of rank, to receive full honor funerals. Beginning in early 2009, enlisted service members will receive the same funeral honors as officers at Arlington National Cemetery. In addition to the previous rule that offered a firing party, bugler and chaplain, they also will have a caisson, band, colors team and escort platoon. “I deeply appreciate Sergeant Durbin’s impressive service to our country and his tireless advocacy on behalf of his fellow...

In 0bama's own words, he plainly contradicts his claim he sought, in conjunction with Senator Lugar, to contain "loose nukes." The Nunn-Lugar bill took care of that, but the 0bama plan specifically concentrated on conventional weapons, specifically portable missiles, or MANPADS. The "other conventional weapons" referred to in the bill are likely small arms. 0bama's stance on guns has been demonstrated before. The following quote was taken from Citizens for Global Solutions, dated May 2006. “The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is the number one national security threat that confronts the United States today,” Obama said. Under Senator Lugar’s...

Politics: Barack Obama has a curious way of trying to hoodwink voters into believing he is more hawkish than they think — by showing them how pally he is with a leading Republican dove.The star of the latest Obama campaign commercial is, of all people, Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana. The 30-second spot is airing — or erring to put it another way — in GOP strongholds such as Georgia, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina and Virginia. It shows the Illinois senator and pending Democratic presidential nominee with the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Obama claims he...

The Talk Shows Sunday, July 13th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Tribute to Tony Snow with guests including Vice President Dick Cheney and commentator Rush Limbaugh.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Carly Fiorina, adviser to John McCain; Sen. Claire Mccaskill, D-Mo.; Republican strategist Mike Murphy; Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor; Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Richard Lugar, R-Ind. THIS WEEK (ABC): Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; Govs. Mark...

The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tell, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently. Two key US senators briefed on the attack planned to go public with their opposition to the move, according to the source, but their projected New York Times op-ed piece has yet to appear. The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously, said last week that the US plans an...

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Republican senator who has worked with Russia on disposing nuclear materials questioned Tuesday whether NATO was right to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to its summit meeting next month. Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on NATO, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., pointed to a recent threat by Putin to target Ukraine with nuclear missiles if the former Soviet republic joins NATO and accepts the deployment of anti-missile defenses on its territory. At its summit in Bucharest, the alliance will consider whether to invite Ukraine and Georgia to join a program to prepare them...

That would be Mark Pryor, first-term Democratic incumbent, running in a reliably red state. [T]he Republicans’ inability to field any Senate candidate in a Southern state that twice favored Republican George W. Bush for president this decade is yet another blow for a party that lost six seats and its Senate majority in 2006, and is mainly playing defense against further Democratic gains this year.Having missed the filing deadline, any Republican who might belatedly decide to run against Pryor would have to do so as a write-in candidate…Pryor becomes the first senator to draw no opponent from the other major...

Snip..... In what could be the biggest State Department scandal since State Department official and United Nations founder Alger Hiss was exposed as a Soviet spy, a top Clinton State Department official and former Time magazine journalist has been identified as having been a trusted contact of the Russian intelligence service. Snip... The sensational charge against Strobe Talbott is made in a new book based on interviews with a Russian defector. Snip... Talbott has been and continues to be a major foreign policy thinker. Back in 2000, when he was named head of the Yale Center for the Study of...

Sen. Barack Obama is already plotting the makeup of his Cabinet, and it includes two prominent Republicans. According to the Sunday Times of London, Obama has his sights set on Sens. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska and Richard Lugar of Indiana. Hagel has been an outspoken opponent of the Iraq war, and Lugar is the ranking GOP member on the Senate foreign relations committee. Senior advisers told the Times that Hagel is being considered for the secretary of defense post, and Lugar as secretary of state. Obama would only say to the Times: “Chuck Hagel is a great friend of mine...

AS Barack Obama enters the final stages of the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination, he is preparing to detach the core voters of John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, with the same ruthless determination with which he has peeled off Hillary Clinton’s supporters. The scene is set for a tussle between the two candidates for the support of some of the sharpest and most independent minds in politics. Obama is hoping to appoint cross-party figures to his cabinet such as Chuck Hagel, the Republican senator for Nebraska and an opponent of the Iraq war, and Richard Lugar, leader of...

Why are Republicans in Congress trying to help Barack Obama?Republicans allowed a bill that carries his name, among nine others, to pass the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by voice vote last week – without any hearings. That means there was no roll-call vote so no member can be held accountable. The same bill passed the House by voice vote last year.The Obama bill passed out of committee with the cooperation of the co-sponsor, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. A Rhodes scholar like former President Bill Clinton, Lugar has never seen a United Nations enhancement he didn't like.Obama's costly, dangerous and altogether...

Senator Dick Lugar, Ranking Member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Wednesday issued a statement in response to threats made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to halt oil shipments to the United States and the declaration last Tuesday that Venezuela would discontinue oil sales to Exxon refineries. "I urge the government of Venezuela to maintain this discussion within the legal framework that ExxonMobil and Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA (Pdvsa) chose to resolve their differences," Lugar said in a communiqué published on his official website. Lugar urged the parties to resolve their dispute without creating further...

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans sharply challenged President Bush's top military general and ambassador in Iraq on Tuesday in a blatant demonstration of misgivings within the GOP about the protracted war. "Are we going to continue to invest blood and treasure at the same rate we're doing now? For what?" asked Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., who supports legislation setting a deadline to bring troops home. The deep-seated doubt expressed at the hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reflected just how far Congress had come since the war began over four years ago. And Republican senators raised tough questions that rivaled...

Hadley: Bush Will Not Accept Mission Change Offered by Warner, Lugar Sunday , July 15, 2007 AP WASHINGTON — The White House is rejecting as premature a plan by two senior Republican senators to restrict the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Sunday the administration has a "very orderly process" set out for reviewing whether its Iraq strategy is working and that should be allowed to play out. Asked in a broadcast interview whether Bush could live with the plan offered by Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar of Indiana,...

2 top Republicans propose own Iraq billBy ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer Two top Republicans cast aside President Bush's pleas for patience on Iraq Friday and proposed legislation demanding a new strategy by mid-October to restrict the mission of U.S. troops. The proposal, by veteran GOP Sens. John Warner of Virginia and Richard Lugar of Indiana, came as the Pentagon conceded that a decreasing number of Iraqi battalions are able to operate on their own. "American military and diplomatic strategy in Iraq must adjust to the reality that sectarian factionalism is not likely to abate anytime soon and probably cannot...

WASHINGTON - Two prominent Senate Republicans have drafted legislation that would require President Bush to come up with a plan by mid-October to dramatically narrow the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq. The legislation, which represents a sharp challenge to Bush, was put forward Friday by Sens. John Warner and Richard Lugar, and it came as the Pentagon acknowledged that a decreasing number of Iraqi army battalions are able to operate independently of U.S. troops. "Given continuing high levels of violence in Iraq and few manifestations of political compromise among Iraq's factions, the optimal outcome in Iraq of a unified,...

WASHINGTON — Two prominent Senate Republicans have drafted legislation that would require President Bush by mid-October to come up with a plan to dramatically narrow the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq. The legislation, which represents a sharp challenge to Bush, was put forward Friday by Sens. John Warner and Richard Lugar and it came as the Pentagon acknowledged that a decreasing number of Iraqi army battalions are able to operate independently of U.S. troops. "Given continuing high levels of violence in Iraq and few manifestations of political compromise among Iraq's factions, the optimal outcome in Iraq of a unified,...