Free Republic

Where was the American people's representation on health care reform in Washington on Saturday night? Or better, why did our representatives in Washington move so hastily to advance an inclusive health care reform bill that will permanently alter 1/6th of our economy and affect every citizen when most Americans don't support it? Despite the fact that the bill that was introduced only eight days earlier, has 1,990 pages (and nearly as many words as Tolstoy's War and Peace), House majority leader Steny Hoyer and Speaker Nancy Pelosi strong-armed 220 votes in favor of the "Affordable Healthcare for America Act" (HR3962)....

On August 28, 2009 Taxpayers will go back to the Capitol to Demand our Representatives stop taxing us and start representing us! In California's vast and fertile central valley, the federal government has shut off the water to farmers. Fields lie fallow, and once thriving orchards are dry and dead. After generations on the land, families are losing their farms. In some areas unemployment exceeds 40%. All this to protect a "minnow." The government is putting fish before families. This insanity must end. In the mountains, family owned timber operations, working and managing our forests for generations, are being forced...

As outlined in Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, the members of the House of Representatives are elected every two years. The reason for this was to guarantee the House members would be responsive to their constituents. Delegates at the constitutional convention felt that a two-year term of office would give new House members the opportunity to learn their job, while at the same time keep them dependent upon and therefore responsive to the wishes of the people. In a young nation where the town meeting was a common part of the governmental process, the House of Representatives was...

President James Madison, considered by many to be the "Father of the Constitution" and author of over a third of the Federalist Papers, wrote that legislators should be "called for the most part from pursuits of a private nature and continued in appointment for a short period of office." President Abraham Lincoln stated during the Gettysburg Address "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." No honest person would argue that both these presidents were not only brilliant statesman, but also possessed an intellect rarely matched. They would also agree that...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A U.S. crackdown on European online gambling breaches World Trade Organization rules and would justify action at the World Trade Organization, the European Commission said on Thursday. The European Union executive, which oversees trade policy for the 27-nation bloc, said its draft report found that such U.S. laws hampered trade and thus were inconsistent with WTO rules but stressed it would seek a negotiated solution. "It is for the U.S. to decide how best to regulate Internet gambling in its market, but this must be done in a way that fully respects WTO obligations," EU Trade Commissioner...

On December 1, 2008, a California voter filed a federal lawsuit, charging that the population of California legislative districts (the lower house in particular) is so vast, that Californians do not have true representation in either house of their state legislature. The lawsuit is filed in federal court and argues that the U.S. Constitution protects the ability of ordinary voters to have meaningful representation. It argues that given the 475,000 population of California Assembly districts, there is no real representation.For those of you interested in learning about the litigation to end the legislative oligarchy in California, watch this interview of...

When the 111th Congress convenes on Jan. 6, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus will be underrepresented in its membership. No shocker there perhaps. But a new analysis of incoming members' religious affiliations by the Pew Forum indicates there's no small measure of change in Congress' religious ties: It's much more diverse than just half a century ago.

"Voters in Tennessee have complained that their Republican choices switched to slates of Democrats..."

September 28, 2008 America is lucky - it’s being saved by the mob Simon Jenkins Party politics is customarily suspended in time of war. It should have been suspended in America this weekend, with a crisis raging in the markets and confidence in the nation’s leadership on the line. The purpose of an election campaign is to expose weakness in contenders for high office. Today the purpose should be to restore confidence in their strength. Friday’s presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain was, as a result, a flaccid affair. They were clearly discomfited, like boys caught fighting during...

I think it's time to let Congress feel our election fury this November. As reflected in the latest Rasmussen Reports, "Just 9 percent (of Americans) say Congress is doing a good or excellent job." It is the first single-digit approval rating for Congress in Rasmussen's history, and it makes Bush's 30 percent approval rating seem like a stat to boast. The study went on to explain: "Just 12 percent of voters think Congress has passed any legislation to improve life in this country over the past six months. That number has ranged from 11 percent to 13 percent throughout 2008."...

"...many experts say that a paper trail alone can't solve the problem..."

"...electronic voting system shut down across the board..."

"...The issue of voting machine certification is critical because of tests that have revealed teams of computer hackers sanctioned by California Secretary of State Debra Bowen were able to hack without difficulty into various vendors' touch-screen voting machines during a "top to bottom review" of every system certified by the state, according to a University of California study. Diebold touchscreen voting machine The report concluded the machines could be manipulated using "tools that can be found in a typical office and could be executed by a very low-skilled attacker." Voting equipment for the timed test included devices from Sequoia, Hart...

Canadian Pro-Life Group Opposes Ontario Proportional Representation Proposal Proposal will be a ballot question in the upcoming Oct. 10 Ontario general election TORONTO, August 30, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) -  Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the political arm of the pro-life movement in Canada, has come out in opposition to the proposed alteration to Ontario voting procedures which includes a system of partial proportional representation.  The proposal will be a ballot question in the upcoming Oct. 10 Ontario general election. The following is reproduced from CLC's September newsletter: We Oppose Proportional Representation We are generating much interest regarding our position opposing proportional representation....

"..."significant and unacceptable" security risk..."

"...Florida’s optical scan voting machines are still flawed, despite efforts to fix them, and they could allow poll workers to tamper with the election results..."

"...the team was able to bypass security in every machine they tested..."

"...The Maryland Senate unanimously approved a bill yesterday that would require the state to scrap its $65 million electronic-voting system and switch to new machines that have a paper record..."

"...Weisberg said Diehold was so stunned it did not get the contract that it now believes "it's worth the time and money" of going to court to challenge the contract's award, even though the company at this stage has no hard evidence of unfair treatment. Galvin yesterday called the Diebold suit "frivolous" and unlikely to succeed. "My office made a very reasonable selection after a long, open process of evaluating the voting machines," Galvin said. "We are entirely confident we will prevail," he said..."

"HARRISON COUNTY --The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday to revert back to the old paper ballot voting methods here, dumping the new electronic voting machines after just a few elections. "We've had a lot of problems with the machines... the costs, I was real concerned about the problems we had last time and it was going to cost us a lot," said Harrison County Circuit Clerk Gayle Parker, who recommended scrapping the high-tech machines after problems during the November elections. Dozens of Mississippi counties reported problems with the new machines. Poll workers had trouble getting the machines to work....