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The former U.S. senator from Vermont who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent has died. James Jeffords was 80. Jeffords had announced in 2005 that he would not seek a fourth term, citing his and his wife's health problems. His wife, Liz, died in 2007. Jeffords served more than 30 years in Washington. He won election to the House in 1974 as a Republican. He was the only Republican in the House to vote against President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts in 1981. A decade late, upset with President George...

Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80.

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Former Vermont U.S. Sen. James Jeffords, who in 2001 tipped control of the Senate when he quit the Republican Party to become an independent, died Monday. He was 80. Jeffords died in Washington, said Diane Derby, a former aide to Jeffords. He had been in declining health, she said. Jeffords had announced in 2005 that he would not seek a fourth term, citing his and his wife's health problems.

I'm listening to Rush and Mark Davis is the substitute host. He has been saying all morning that even though Doug Hoffman is the real conservative, he can't win NY-23 and that people should vote for Scozzafava to prevent Bill Owens, the Democrat from winning. I'm trying to contact him and tell him about the Club For Growth poll showing Hoffman in the lead, but it's tough to get through. Maybe if more of us call in, we'll have a better chance.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is defending his decision to endorse a liberal Republican candidate in the special election for New York's 23rd Congressional District even though she is a Margaret Sanger Award winner and supporter of same-sex "marriage." New York Republican congressional candidate DeDe Scozzafava not only has the backing of Planned Parenthood and The Daily Kos, but her campaign has also received financial endorsements from the Republican National Committee and Republican leaders such as House Minority Leader John Boehner, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Gingrich recently said Scozzafava's election could be the...

When the Vermont Republican became an independent, Specter lost a committee chairmanship in the Senate's resulting power shift. An angry Specter proposed a ban on such party switches. Reporting from Washington -- When a Senate Republican left his party in 2001, elevating the Democrats to majority status, one member of the GOP was especially vocal about his displeasure: Arlen Specter. Specter said then- Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords' decision to become an independent was disruptive to the functioning of Congress. He proposed a rule forbidding party switches that had the effect of vaulting the minority to majority status in the middle...

Barack Obama's campaign is rolling out a number of centrist Republicans who are endorsing the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee over Republican rival John McCain - in a show of his ability to win cross-over votes. A conference call Tuesday featured former Iowa Rep. Jim Leach, former White House intelligence adviser Rita Hauser and former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who represented his state as a Republican, but switched to become a Democrat so he could vote for Obama in the primary. Leach predicted that a lot of Republicans and independents are going to be attracted by Obama's campaign. The Obama...

It is being reported on the Rusty Humphries show that John McCain and not Jim Jeffords planned on switching to the Democrat party in 2001.

If Rudy wins the "National" Primary next February 5th then who should he pick as his VP nominee. Dr. Regina S. Peruggi, President, Kingsborough Community College, http://www.kingsborough.edu/sub-administration/office_president.htmlDonna, a radio host for WOR 710, http://www.wor710.com/pages/46303.phpSomeone else?

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly voted to end a filibuster and moved closer to renewal of the USA Patriot Act. Senators voted 96-3 Thursday to stop debate regarding a compromise on the Patriot Act. All three of the senators who voted to keep debate going were Democrats ... Some aspects of the act were to expire at the end of 2005 but the White House sought to make the bill permanent. Congress gave the act short extensions, the most recent of which will end March 10.

The departures of Jim Jeffords (I-VT) and Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) will result in competitive US Senate elections in 2006 in two states where Republicans are not historically strong, though the special circumstances that apply to those seats make them within reach of the GOP. The former will have special meaning for Republicans since its occupant unilaterally handed control of the US Senate to the opposing party from 2001 to 2003. Because the Republicans enjoyed a historic victory in the 2002 midterms, the actions of the Benedict Arnold from the home of Ethan Allen had limited implications, aside from giving the...

Apr 20, 2005 DNC Chairman Howard Dean Statement On the Retirement of Senator Jim Jeffords Washington, DC – Democratic National Committee Chairman, Governor Howard Dean, issued the following statement regarding the retirement of Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords: "People all across America owe my good friend Jim Jeffords a debt of gratitude for dedicating his life to public service. An extraordinary man of great integrity, Jim's career exemplifies the very best in public life. From defending the environment and education, to his staunch support for the arts, to advocating for Americans with disabilities, Jim has distinguished himself as a courageous public...

16 Staffers Known Exposed, No One Reported Ill By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press Published: Feb 3, 2004 WASHINGTON (AP) - Sixteen Senate staffers underwent decontamination - basically a fancy word for showering - for exposure to the deadly poison ricin, and so far no one has turned up ill. That reassures health officials, who note that enough people were around the ricin-containing powder that if anyone were going to be ill, symptoms should have begun by now. "As each minute ticks by, we are less and less concerned about the health effects," said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the...

Sen. James M. Jeffords (I-Vt.) is complaining about extremism and divisiveness again. But this time, the senator, who famously fled a Republican Party he considered intolerant, is training his sights on the Democrats -- specifically, the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist group within the party. The DLC recently criticized Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean as an elitist liberal, a member of the party's "McGovern-Mondale" wing," which "lost 49 states in two elections and transformed Democrats from a strong national party into a much weaker regional one."

Senator Says Bush Pushing Too Hard for Tax Cut Sat May 3, 3:37 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Independent Sen. Jim Jeffords said on Saturday the fervor for tax cuts has become a theology rather than an economic policy for some Republicans and warned President Bush (news - web sites) against pushing lawmakers too hard for his $550 billion package. The Vermont senator bolted the Republican Party two years ago in a dispute with the White House over the way Bush and his Republican allies in Congress handled their drive for the $1.35 trillion tax cut that Bush signed into...

James Jeffords surely must be the loneliest senator on Capitol Hill. Just six months after the Republican leadership pulled out all the stops to get the Vermonter re-elected in 2000 — including all but sacrificing the political career of his colleague, Minnesota's Rod Grams — Mr. Jeffords bolted the GOP, claiming he no longer felt at home there. It was, as the titles to his two subsequent books made abundantly clear, his "Declaration of Independence."

<p>I read with interest Erin Kelly's article headlined "Vermont senators lose clout" (Nov. 7). The essence of her story points out Vermont's loss of influence within the U.S. Senate as it shifts from Democratic to Republican control. What is not presented in her article is how our two U.S. senators unwittingly contributed to that loss.</p>

How should I eloquently defend going to war against Iraq to Liberals that I work and go to school with. I am tempted to put on my Tin Foil Hat when debating, and it gets tough. We all know what a murdering, torturous, insane, tyrant Saddam is, but liberals refuse to believe it.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 — A few minutes past 7 on the morning after Election Day, Senator Trent Lott called President Bush, who pointedly asked him if he was still at home. Mr. Lott knew he was being baited. The president, an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of guy, loves to razz Mr. Lott, a confirmed night owl, about how hard it is to make it to crack-of-dawn meetings at the White House. Mr. Lott shot back: "No, Mr. President, I'm in my office. Let's go to work." The exchange, while jocular, hinted at what some Republicans said was below-the-surface tension between the...

This is what you people in Vermont are paying for. Probably through the nose.... 19. S.1514 : A bill to extend the temporary suspension of duty with respect to certain snowboard boots. Sponsor: Sen Jeffords, James M. Committees: Senate Finance Latest Major Action: 10/9/2001 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.