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A Congressional Research Service report commissioned by the House Judiciary Committee says ACORN hasn't violated any federal regulations the past five years. The report, released by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers's, D-Mich., staff Tuesday evening, also reports that the undercover filmmakers that allegedly caught employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now breaking the law may have violated state law in their filming operation.

The flaw in my reasoning about congressional whores and prostitutes is that when politicians “put out” WE GET SCREWED not them! Even if one of these Democrat Senators get booted from office, they will just end up with some high-paying job as further payback.

Congress has been working on a health care bill for the better part of a year. The coverage of the legislation inevitably takes on a day-to-day, blow-by-blow account of the political machinations in Washington, D.C. The public option is in, then it's out, then maybe it's in with a trigger, then it's out, then maybe Medicare is expanded to include some as young as 55, then that's out. The legislation will have changed more between the time we write this and you read it. Anything to come up with 60 votes in the Senate in a big hurry. What's easy...

In an end-of-session nail-biter vote, the House passed a short-term increase of the debt limit Wednesday, setting the stage for a February showdown on deficit spending. It was not a popular measure with centrist and vulnerable lawmakers, who don’t want to be portrayed as allowing the nation to go deeper into debt. The $290 billion increase would set the debt ceiling at $12.394 trillion.

The House is rushing to pass four major bills today -- a Defense Department appropriations bill, a debt-limit extension bill, a continuing resolution to keep the government going, and a new stimulus bill. New versions of all the bills were only introduced last night -- one of them, the stimulus, is an entirely new measure -- which means lawmakers are scurrying to learn what is in the bills before the accelerated schedule of voting. "They introduced a brand-new stimulus bill around 11-ish," says one House GOP source. "And we're voting on it today." There is little doubt that few lawmakers,...

Jamie Dupree The Omnibus Arrives It's a classic time in Congress, as lawmakers will try in the next few days to jam six budget bills through the House and Senate, so they can quickly issue press releases to take credit for some of the local projects stuffed in there. We already had one Omnibus earlier this year, which wrapped up the leftover budget work from 2008. Now we have a second one, as Democrats have rolled six budget bills into one, totaling $448 billion in government budgets. And yes, there will be a lot of Republican votes for this, because...

Dems snare 60 votes to move ahead on health careBy ERICA WERNER, Associated Press Writer – 4 mins ago WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders secured the last two votes to move ahead on historic health care legislation, clearing the way for a Saturday night showdown on President Barack Obama's top domestic initiative. In long-awaited speeches, centrist Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana said they would stand with their party and vote "yes" on the crucial test vote despite deep reservations with elements of the 2,074-page bill to remake the nation's health care system. "The truth is this...

Damon Dunn has captured the attention of the California Republican Party, as well as the conservative, independent and youthful voters of the state; many are starting to label him the “future of the Republican Party”. If Dunn is that future, it is best described as energetic, articulate and extremely passionate – and never has voted. Dunn is the 33-year-old Texas ex-patriot, University of Stanford political graduate and very successful California businessman who has now decided to run for Secretary of State as a conservative Republican. The former Cardinal football star, and employee of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, has a story...

With most of the state beginning to focus on their favorite candidate for the Primary Election coming next June, nobody is paying any attention to the selection of fourteen regular citizens who will become “Rock Stars” come February 2010. Next year fourteen citizens will be known as the “Citizens Redistricting Commission” for California’s future; regular people who will be selected from thousands of applicants between December 15, 2009 and February 15, 2010 put in charge of coloring the Golden State’s future. Have you read the application and qualification process here? These people will be "rick stars", and politically ignorant. The...

More than 22,000 illegal immigrants with criminal charges or convictions have been arrested in Texas through a 1-year-old program that links FBI and federal immigration databases, Homeland Security officials said Thursday. About 12 percent of them, or 2,700 people, were charged or convicted of what authorities call "level one" crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping or narcotics violations with a sentence of more than one year. (snip) Under the new system, fingerprints are run simultaneously through a national database to check criminal history and through a Homeland Security database to check the person's immigration status. All those arrested in jurisdictions...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration has met many of the border security benchmarks Congress set in 2007 as a prerequisite to immigration reform and now it's time to change the law, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday. Napolitano, designated by President Barack Obama to lead the administration's immigration reform efforts, said many members of Congress had said they could support immigration reform, but only after border security improved, Napolitano said. "Fast forward to today, and many of the benchmarks these members of Congress set in 2007 have been met," she said in a speech to the Center for...

House Democrats may finally be taking note of voters' fears of ObamaCare. The Dems were planning to pass their bill today, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi & Co. yesterday realized it might fail, and mulled delaying the vote. Here's a better idea: Give it up. There's no reason, after all, for them to follow the White House like lemmings down a path as dangerous to their party's electoral future as it is to the country. Indeed, that their trillion-dollar bill even remains a priority -- while unemployment has hit 10.2 percent, highest in 26 years, as was reported yesterday -- is...

Referendum Measure 71 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners Approved 165,340 44.89 % Rejected 202,954 55.11 % Total Votes 368,294 100.00%

Regardless of how lively an election season might be, a new study shows that more 3.3 million voters on current registration rolls across the country are dead. Another 12.9 million remain on voter registration lists in an area where they no longer live. The analysis was conducted by the Aristotle International Inc., a technology company specializing in political campaigns, developing software and databases for politicians. In total that means about 8.9 percent of all registered voters fall under the category of “deadwood” voters on the rolls, the term for voters who should no longer be eligible to vote in a...

Congressman John Shadegg joins HonestConservative for a Sunday NiteCap @ Freedom Radio. Congressman Shadegg has introduced the Health Care Choice Act, H.R. 4460, a bill which would empower consumers by allowing them to purchase an affordable health insurance policy with a range of options. The Health Care Choice Act will break down state-imposed barriers to insurance and allow individuals to purchase health insurance, in much the same way as they currently purchase auto or homeowner’s insurance, from states outside the one in which they reside. Ultimately, this would force the health care industry to price plans more competitively, meaning lower...

Third parties don't work, the Republicans are as bad as the Democrats, most of the existing politicians are universally corrupt. How and who is anyone going to plan, organize, determine new candidates and accomplish taking back our government from all of the corrupt bunch in Washington, D.C. I do not see leadership, organization or any serious effort to keep all of us going in a direction that will get us the candidates and the votes to win...any thoughts out there guys and gals?

I wonder why the same poeple opposing voter ID are the same favoring IRV ? why are "progressives" often on this bandwagon?

Democrats on a key Senate panel backed off a plan to impose billions of dollars in new taxes on senior citizens with catastrophic medical expenses Wednesday and defeated Republican amendments on abortion, immigration and other divisive issues, aiming to bring a comprehensive health-care overhaul before the full Senate within two weeks. On the sixth day of a marathon debate in the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) declared that his panel has the votes to approve a package of reforms that would extend coverage to more than 30 million Americans who lack insurance. He and Sen. Charles E. Grassley...

If such a ban were to become law, the Obama administration would be hard-pressed to close the Guantanamo Bay prison by January as President Obama has promised. WASHINGTON -- The House went on record Thursday against allowing detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba to be transferred to the United States, even to face trial or to be jailed in maximum-security prisons. The 258-163 vote on a nonbinding recommendation put Democrats controlling the House in a difficult spot and prompted senior lawmakers to postpone unveiling a House-Senate agreement on a homeland security funding bill. If such a ban were...

All but 11 Democrats voted for the plan, and 177 Republicans voted against it. The 244-to-188 vote came a day after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill to seek Republican backing, if not for the package then on other issues to come. Mr. Obama, in a statement hailing the House passage of the plan, did not take note of the partisan divide but signaled that he expected changes to be made in the Senate that might attract support. “I hope that we can continue to strengthen this plan before it gets to my desk,” he said. “But what we can’t...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate voted Thursday to triple foreign aid to Pakistan, with lawmakers saying the legislation could change the crisis-driven nature of U.S.-Pakistan relations and create ties based more on long-term interests. The Senate voted by voice to approve the measure that approves $1.5 billion a year over the next five years for democratic, economic and social development assistance. The measure, a result of House-Senate negotiations, could be passed in the House as early as Friday, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

One of the stark political realities of Ted Kennedy's death is that Senate Democrats' long coveted 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority is on hold for the foreseeable future as Massachusetts voters prepare for a special election to replace the legendary Democratic senator. In truth, Kennedy's infirmity and the long-term absence of Sen. Robert Byrd, in addition to the renegade nature of some of the more moderate elements within the party, have long made the idea of a filibuster-proof majority more theory than reality. But Kennedy's death cements Democrats' inability to push through legislation by sheer force of numbers alone unless, as Kennedy...

(Text of Amendments and Votes @ link) Democrats Refuse to Let Americans Keep the Insurance They Have and Like 2 out of 3 will lose their health insurance Democrats voted against an amendment offered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to strike the government-run plan. When speaking before the American Medical Association, President Obama stated that, “If you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.” However, the Democrats government-run plan breaks this promise. According to two independent studies: The government-run plan will result in...

Reporting from Sacramento -- Although 28 members of the California Assembly supported a measure to allow new oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast, their votes are nowhere to be found in the official state database. After the measure failed, Assembly leaders expunged the vote altogether, sparing lawmakers running for reelection an official record of their controversial decision. The voting logs made available to the public on the Legislature's website do not indicate who voted for and against the bill on July 24. ... It wasn't the first time the Assembly has done this. The little-known practice of purging votes,...

Along largely partisan lines, the Senate Judiciary Cmte backed SCOTUS appointee Sonia Sotomayor, Pres. Obama's first high court pick, this morning by a 13-6 vote. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican to support Sotomayor. The Senate cmte's Dems voted unanimously for the Bronx native. The full Senate will vote next, but with the Dems' 60-vote majority, Sotomayor's confirmation is all but a done deal. She will be the first individual of Hispanic heritage to sit on the SCOTUS.

60 votes not so super for Obama, Senate DemocratsBy: LAURIE KELLMAN The Associated Press July 4, 2009 Congress returns for its midsummer session Monday with a Senate supermajority not super enough for President Barack Obama's top priorities to pass without Republican support. The seating of Minnesota Sen. Al Franken will give Democrats the filibuster-proof 60-40 majority in the Senate, but only on paper. Absences by two ailing senators mean the party can count only 58 votes, and then only if Majority Leader Harry Reid can herd two independents and the independent streaks of 55 others behind Obama's biggest initiatives: expanded...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama's health secretary on Sunday pushed for a new government-run healthcare program, an idea facing skepticism even in his own party, and a senior Senate Democrat flatly said votes are lacking in Congress for the proposal.

One out of every four ballots requested by military personnel and other Americans living overseas for the 2008 election may have gone uncounted, according to findings being released at a Senate hearing Wednesday. Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, said the study, while providing only a snapshot of voting patterns, "is enough to show that the balloting process for service members is clearly in need of an overhaul." The committee, working with the Congressional Research Service, surveyed election offices in seven states with high numbers of military personnel: California, Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington...

Woman admits voter fraud By Robert Patrick ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 03/24/2009 ST. LOUIS – An East St. Louis woman pleaded guilty to a mail fraud charge Tuesday in federal court in St. Louis and admitted submitting false voter registration cards in the lead-up to the last year's elections, federal prosecutors said. Deidra Humphrey, 44, worked for the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition and submitted false and fraudulent voter registration cards for voters in St. Louis city and county, knowing it was illegal, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

In recent months demands for ACORN to be investigated under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) for repeated incidents of electoral fraud have been growing.But voting-related fraud is just the tip of the iceberg.ACORN runs a mob-style "protection" racket known within the radical direct-action group as the "muscle for the money" program, a lawyer told the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties today.Lawyer Heather Heidelbaugh filed an unsuccessful lawsuit last year against ACORN, specifically, a court injunction in Pennsylvania against ACORN's voter registration efforts in last year's presidential campaign. (A transcript of the Oct. 29 hearing in Moyer v....

Back in 2007, the New York Times famously proclaimed that the evangelical movement in America was cracking up. Since then, the media has relished exposing what they see as fault lines in evangelicalism over such issues as abortion, marriage, and the environment. The pundits seized upon President Obama’s decisive electoral victory last fall to opine that evangelicals were no longer the political force they once were. And just last week, a well-known evangelical blogger predicted the “collapse” of evangelicalism in America within the next decade, even though he also predicted that out of the ruins of evangelicalism, “new forms of...

Senate Democratic leaders are still coming up short as they work furiously behind the scenes to gather up 60 votes to pass a $410 billion spending bill that funds the government through September. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Thursday night that he was one vote short of the votes needed despite calling Senate Appropriations Committee Republicans to try to secure support from about six of them. A vote had been scheduled for this evening, but now the bill is on hold at least until Monday, meaning that for now most government departments will have to continue operating...

The notoriously slow Congress passed the $787 billion economic stimulus package in a matter of weeks. President Obama signed it into law less than one month into his presidency. So, just how soon will Americans start reaping the benefits of tax cuts in it? By April 1, according to the president. "Never before in our history has a tax cut taken effect faster or gone to so many hardworking Americans," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet address. He said the Treasury Department has begun directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from people's paychecks in...

"Don't worry son, you'll get used to it." http://crosshairs.archangelsandwitticism.com/2009/02/13/still-looking-for-a-breath-of-fresh-air.aspx

DES MOINES (AP) - Iowa lawmakers are considering changing the way the state's presidential votes are counted as part of an effort to break from the Electoral College system. The proposal is moving through the state Senate and so far has generated little opposition. It calls for Iowa to join with other states and pledge its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, no matter who wins in Iowa.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told reporters Thursday that he has enough votes to pass a more than $900 billion stimulus bill out of the Senate. Reid said he believes at least two Republicans of "good will" would support the Democratic-crafted package."Do we have the votes? I believe we do," said Reid, who expects a final vote on the package will be held on Thursday. It appears the stimulus would attract only a few GOP votes, however, and Senate Democratic leaders distanced themselves from earlier hopes that the economic recovery could draw more Republican support. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.),...

A campaign poster for Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki hangs from a building in Baghdad's Sadr City district, Jan. 29, 2009. The nation is holding its first free provincial elections entirely run by Iraqis, Jan 31. Photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav, 4th Infantry Division Public Affairs. SADR CITY — Something new is coming to Iraq.  The signs are in the air, plastered on walls, buildings, light posts lining the road and even strung between buildings. Provincial elections are being held today, and most public structures have, in some way shape or form, campaign posters attached to them.There have been elections in...

CAMP VICTORY — Approximately 3,000 detainees in Coalition custody voted Jan. 28 at eight polling stations in U.S. Theater Internment Facilities (TIF). Multi-National Force-Iraq partnered with the Government of Iraq, the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), and other agencies to provide credible and legitimate special needs voting at Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca. The Government of Iraq provided all the poll workers, ballots and administrative support, and MNF-I organized the IHEC-authorized detainees for the safe and orderly election. In addition, dozens of international and other IHEC-approved observers monitored the voting process. Balloting opened at 7 a.m. and continued until all...

A truckload of Iraqi Policemen head to a local voting station in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district, Jan. 28, 2009, to cast their vote in the country's second election since the fall of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jerry Saslav. CAMP VICTORY — During the 2005 provincial Iraqi elections, voters had their fingers stained with election ink to prevent them from voting twice. Some held their fingers up in pride as they took part in democracy; others hid their faces from cameras, afraid of becoming victims of sectarian violence. This year, ink or not, Iraqi Security Forces will make their...

<p>WASHINGTON – Republicans appear to have overplayed their hand when blocking the expansion of a children's health care program last year.</p> <p>They face the likelihood that Democrats in the coming weeks will pass a bill that they dislike even more.</p>

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama, seeking to sell his stimulus package to the public, promoted plans to build up clean-energy industries, expand health-insurance coverage and boost security at U.S. ports as part of the broader effort to jump-start the sputtering U.S. economy. “If we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse,” Obama said today in his first weekly radio and video address as president. The administration released a report today outlining some of Obama’s priorities for the two-year recovery package. They include loan guarantees and other support to open up credit for...

In a recent column I discussed the very real threat to the continued existence of our republic that is posed by uninformed, misinformed, and indifferent voters. The column drew a significant amount of comment... most of it positive. The most interesting response came from a reader who pointed to a 1953 novel titled, In the Wet, by British novelist Nevil Shute. Although the basic plot is an interesting and engaging one... involving the adventures of a half-aboriginal Australian pilot who is assigned to fly the Queen of England... a quick search of the Internet tells us that what readers remember...

Many U.S. troops serving overseas are effectively excluded from voting because they are not given enough time to cast absentee ballots, according to a report released on Tuesday. Sixteen U.S. states and the District of Columbia do not send out their absentee ballots early enough to allow those serving in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan to fill them out and return them before their voting deadline, the Pew Center on the States found. Another six states force soldiers, sailors and marines to return their ballots by fax or e-mail to meet the deadline, risking the privacy and security of their...

In Ohio, a state Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) lawsuit was against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The lawsuit alleges ACORN has engaged in a pattern of corrupt activity that amounts to organized crime.

Barack Obama has not even been sworn in yet as the 44th president of the United States but groups are springing up online calling for his impeachment. On Facebook, an "Impeach Barack Obama" group has attracted more than 700 members and a lively debate about the Democrat's election victory on Tuesday over Republican John McCain. Another Facebook group of the same name has 160 members and urges others to join because "we might as well get a head start on the impeachment of Obama." "There are a lot of Americans out there that do not fully understand the concept of...

(2008-11-05) — President-elect Barack Obama today politely declined a request from the Republican National Committee to “redistribute the votes” from yesterday’s Congressional contests in order to “spread the power around.” “It’s not that we want to punish your success,” wrote RNC chairman Mike Duncan. “We just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you has a chance for success too. Our attitude is that if the election’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody … when you spread the power around, it’s good for everybody.” ” In a brief written reply to...

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Obama defeated John McCain 15-6. Independent Ralph Nader was also on the ballot, but received no votes. The first voter, following tradition established in 1948, was picked ahead of the midnight voting and the rest of the town's 19 registered voters followed suit in Tuesday's first minutes. Ummm....15+6 is 21...but 1+19 is 20 ???

A friend who was in Denver called me and told me that her family was receiving emails from her computer telling them "that if Obama isn't elected it is their fault for not voting for him". She said that she isn't home in Lander Wyoming, much less sending emails. Has anyone else seen this?