Posts Tagged ‘congress’

The Weiner gets 2 weeks paid vacation on the taxpayers.

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

WOW, first the low life pervert Rep Weiner sends porn to women on the Internet and then lies to the press and the American people. NOW a 2 week Vacation before he returns the become OUR very own congressional Internet flasher.

This limp Weiner needs to resign and get out of the government. Call his office and tell HIM TO RESIGN.


http://americasindependentmovement.com/the-weiner-must-resign-call-the-weiner-line-and-tell-him-202-225-6616.

Delays Vote over Libya and Gaddafi to send a representative to OPEC meeting.

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

The Obama WAR continues and a congress of COWARDS just sits there and does nothing. It is past time for the United States to defund the US involement in this civil war. The cowardly CONGRESS can not make a budget, they can not stop The Obama from giving BILLIONS away to OUR enemies in the Midlle East, they can not vote to defund the Libya War.The Obama war on Libya was to take a couple days and is not going to last another 90 days if you believe anything out of the Whitehouse!

US Delays Vote over Libya and Gaddafi to send a representative to OPEC meeting.
Posted by Darla Dawald

The Republican leadership in the US House of Representatives has postponed a vote on a resolution that would have demanded an end to US involvement in Libya within 15 days.
The delay was prompted by fears that Leftwing Democrats and Rightwing Republicans would unite in backing the measure and hand President Barack Obama an embarrassing foreign policy defeat.

The vote on a resolution by Democrat Dennis Kucinich was abruptly delayed on Wednesday night as the leaders and the Obama administration realized frustrated congressmen probably would support it.

Senate Seeks to Create Caesar – S. 679

Monday, May 9th, 2011

Speed Up Nominations and Confirmations, but Do Not Enact S. 679 Published on April 1, 2011
by David Addington

On March 30, 2011, Senator Charles Schumer (D–NY) with 15 cosponsors, including the Senate Majority and Republican Leaders, as well as six other Democratic Senators, six other Republican Senators, and an Independent Senator,[1] introduced in the Senate the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011 (S. 679). The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The bill reduces the number of presidential appointments that require the consent of the Senate and establishes within the executive branch a Working Group on Streamlining Paperwork for Executive Nominations. Individuals nominated to senior executive offices suffer slow and detailed background investigations and mounds of duplicative paperwork before a President sends their nominations to the Senate. After nomination, many nominees suffer time-consuming inaction or time-consuming and excruciating action as the Senate proceeds (or does not) with consideration of the nomination. The sponsors of S. 679 have identified a valid problem, but proposed the wrong solution. Congress should not enact S. 679.

The Senate Should Preserve, But Speed Up, Its Role in Senior Presidential Appointments

When the delegates of the states gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 and wrote the Constitution, they distributed the powers of the federal government among two Houses of Congress, a President, and a judiciary, and required in many cases that two of them work together to exercise a particular constitutional power. That separation of powers protects the liberties of the American people by preventing any one officer of the government from aggregating too much power.

The Framers of the Constitution did not give the President the kingly power to appoint the senior officers of the government by himself. Instead, they allowed the President to name an individual for a senior office, but then required the President to obtain the Senate’s consent before appointing the individual to office. Thus, they required the cooperation of the President and the Senate to put someone in high office.

Many of the Framers had practical experience with government and recognized that not every office would be of sufficient authority and consequence as to merit the attention of both the President and the Senate to an appointment to the office. Therefore, they provided a means by which the Congress by law could decide which of the lesser offices of government could be filled by the President alone, a court, or a department head.

The Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides that the President:

… shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.[2]
The Appointments Clause is “among the significant structural safeguards of the constitutional scheme”[3] and “is a bulwark against one branch aggrandizing its power at the expense of another branch.”[4]

For principal officers of the United States, such as the heads of executive departments, the President nominates an individual for the office, the Senate consents (or not), and after the Senate consents the President appoints the individual to the office. The same three-step process applies in appointing the inferior officers, unless Congress by law vests the appointment of an inferior officer in the President alone, in a court of law, or in the head of a department. If enacted, S. 679 would vest in the President alone the appointments to several hundred inferior offices in executive agencies that now require Senate consent.

The Congress should not decide by law to relinquish the Senate role in filling a federal office and leave filling the office to the President alone, unless the Congress concludes for each such office that the Senate’s checking influence on the President is of no value because the office is of little or no authority or consequence. Generally, each time Congress by law removes the Senate from a role in the appointment to a federal office, the institutional influence of the Senate diminishes by a marginal amount and the influence of a President increases by a marginal amount. If the office is of little or no authority or consequence, the shift in influence may be immaterial, but if the office wields power that affects the American people, the Congress should not abdicate the Senate checking function.

It does not appear that the sponsors of S. 679 have determined that each of the offices the bill converts from appointments made by the President with Senate consent to appointments made by the President alone is an office of little or no authority or consequence.[5] Instead, it appears that the principal sponsors simply concluded that the Senate is too slow in performing its duty to consider and consent (or not) to presidential nominations and hope to accelerate the Senate process by simply reducing the number of such nominations the President must make.

The Congress should not reduce the number of Senate-confirmed appointments as a means of dealing with its cumbersome and inefficient internal process for considering nominations. Doing so gives away Senate influence over a number of significant appointments, does nothing to improve the Senate process, and still leaves nominees whose offices require nominations mired in the Senate process. The proper solution to the problem of a slow Senate is to speed up the Senate rather than to diminish the role of the Senate. The Senate should look inward and streamline its internal procedures for considering all nominations.[6] The proper solution also is the faster one, as the Senate can accomplish the solution by acting on its own in the exercise of its power to make Senate rules,[7] while S. 679 requires approval by both Houses of Congress.

The Executive Branch Should Speed Up Its Own Process

The executive branch has a slow and tortuous process that a candidate must undergo before the President nominates an individual for office. Typically, the head of an agency and an Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel run paperwork-intensive and time-consuming processes for consideration of candidates for a Senate-confirmed presidential appointment at an agency, leading ultimately to agreement by the agency head and presidential assistant on a candidate for the President to nominate. Then the candidate must complete and submit extraordinarily detailed paperwork concerning his or her background to get in the queue for a time-consuming background investigation, usually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Various government offices scrutinize especially carefully the candidate’s finances and relationships, for potential ethical concerns. All of these processes have a significant function, but over time they have grown more burdensome, less efficient, and more time-consuming.

In an effort to help the executive branch improve its process leading to nominations to the Senate for appointments, S. 679 would establish within the executive branch a Working Group on Streamlining Paperwork for Executive Nominations. The President would designate a chairman for the working group and representatives from the Office of Personnel Management, the Office of Government Ethics, and the FBI, and the Working Group chairman would designate as members individuals from other government agencies and individuals with relevant experience who previously served in government.

The legislation requires the Working Group to study and submit a report to the President and two congressional committees within 90 days on how to streamline the executive branch paperwork required for nominations. The Working Group must consult the leadership of the two congressional committees in conducting the study. The report must include recommendations for an electronic system for collecting by a single form and distributing all necessary background information about candidates and nominees, to reduce the burden on nominees and to speed delivery of the information among agencies and to the Congress. The legislation also requires the Working Group to review the impact on the appointments process of background investigations and to report within 270 days to the President and two congressional committees on whether agencies other than the FBI could be used to conduct background investigations on presidential nominees and whether the scope of that background investigation should vary depending upon the nature of the office involved in the appointment.

The sponsors of the legislation have identified some appropriate objectives with respect to the nominations process: simplify executive branch nominations paperwork, facilitate sharing of the information with appropriate officials in the executive branch, tailor the requirements of background investigations to the nature of the offices involved in the appointment, and increase the efficiency of, and thereby accelerate, each element of the process. The President should direct his subordinates to work together to plan how to accomplish these objectives, execute the plan, and report regularly to him on progress until they achieve all the objectives. The Congress, however, should not mandate by S. 679 that the President do so, for the manner by which a President decides whom to nominate to federal office is beyond the power of Congress to regulate.[8]

The authors of S. 679 have correctly identified serious problems in the process by which the President nominates individuals for federal office and the process by which the Senate considers such nominations. The President and the Senate, respectively, should exercise their existing, ample authority to correct their respective processes. Enactment of S. 679 is not a proper solution to the problems.

David S. Addington is Vice President for Domestic and Economic Policy at The Heritage Foundation.

The big government elitist looking to sell out the American People just to make THEIR JOB easier!!
Sponsered by Chuck Schumer (D – NY)

Co-Sponsers of the Bill:

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN)
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA)
Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE)
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)
Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
Sen. John Reed (D-RI)
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

The Wizards of OZ in congress.

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

The Wizard of OZ

…is 72 years old.

Today, if Dorothy were to encounter

men with no brains, no hearts,

and no balls,

she wouldn’t be in Oz.


She’d be in Congress!

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney FL, nice memo but it is time for action.

Saturday, November 20th, 2010

Talk is cheap and it is time for Congress to stop talking and fire the TSA. Stop talking and start doing.
Rooney Statement on TSA Pat-Downs, Full-Body Scans
11/19/10

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (FL-16) today issued the following statement on new, intrusive Transportation Security Administration procedures, including pat-downs and full-body scans:

“Passengers are angry, and they should be. Full-body pat-downs and explicit photo screenings have gone too far, and the security benefits of implementing these procedures on random passengers are dubious at best.

“TSA full-body screenings and pat-downs are an invasive, unnecessary infringement on passengers’ rights. Congress must exercise its oversight authority to investigate why TSA has mandated these new procedures and whether or not they actually provide stronger security for airline passengers.

“Unfortunately, TSA has become a bloated, federal bureaucracy with more than 70,000 employees. In a classic example of ‘mission creep,’ the agency has vastly overstepped its original charter and is no longer effectively administering its duties and responsibilities. Congress should act immediately to reform TSA.”

Obama, is he really saying I’m confused as Hell??

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Obama Takes on his GOP Critics in Labor Day Speech. Barack Obama delivered a message that was the political equivalent of “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

But is he confused?? Isn’t the American people the one that is YELLING “We are mad as hell and we not going to take it anymore.”

“I want America to have the best infrastructure in the world,” Obama said. But why has it taken him 2 years to do anything!!! This is the same speech we heard 2 years ago when Obama became president but he NEVER delivered with his congress that had total control!! May be the chant should be NO YOU DIDN’T.

After almost 2 year of Obama being president and the Democratic Socialist lead by Pelosi and Reid we are worst off than we were and NO closer to getting the economy back on track. Once again the failed Obama and his congress want to spend and waste OUR tax dollars and punish the American people. Obama only knows to SPEND OUR money on Wall Street reform, health care reform and the government take over of the student loan programs in America.

Almost worse is that the Democratic Socialist congress and Obama continue to hide and denied that social security is collapsing and needs to be changed. Obama vowed that he would fight efforts to privatize social security. “To those who may still run for office planning to privatize Social Security,” he said, “let me be clear: It will not happen on my watch. Not while I’m president of the United States of America.”
Well we say OK, then you must go. Even seniors know that the plan is to keep social security the way it is for seniors now and those coming up on retirement but change it for future seniors who won’t receive any if no changes are made. This is a tough issue and Obama just doesn’t have what it takes to lead. He is just able to give speeches and spend.

We have a failed congress and president that have NO clue on how to restart the private market then have DESTROYED. They must be removed and replaced to SAVE OUR country.

It is the ECONOMY STUPID.

Training for position in United States Congress:

Saturday, September 4th, 2010

Indian Wanting Coffee:

An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun
In one hand pulling a male buffalo with the other.
He says to the waiter:
“Want coffee.”

The waiter says, “Sure, Chief. Coming right up.”

He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee…..
The Indian drinks the coffee down in one gulp,
Turns and blasts the buffalo with the shotgun,
Causing parts of the animal to splatter everywhere and then just walks out.

The next morning the Indian returns.
He has his shotgun in one hand, pulling
Another male buffalo with the other.
He walks up to the counter and says to
The waiter:

“Want coffee.”

The waiter says, “Whoa, Tonto!
We’re still cleaning up your mess from yesterday.
What was all that about, anyway?”

The Indian smiles and proudly says,

“Training for position in United States Congress:
Come in, drink coffee, shoot the bull,
Leave mess for others to clean up,
Disappear for rest of day.”

VOTE ‘EM ALL OUT!

More government spending just masking the problem.

Friday, August 6th, 2010

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/242514/forget-your-vacation-come-bail-out-public-education-lindsey-burke

Here is a great article that shows why the American taxpayer continues to be screwed by the Democratic Socialist elitist in congress.

Writing on National Review Online’s The Corner, Lindsey Burke explains how much taxpayers will be paying for each teaching job if Congress passes its new education bailout: $100,000 per teaching job. This despite the fact that the average teacher’s salary is $54,000. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing lawmakers back from their summer recess to vote on the bill, which will benefit the top two teachers unions, the NEA and the AFT, to the tune of about $24 million dollars in dues.

Why not let each state get their budget in order. At some point the states have to start paying their own bills. START NOW and let the TAXPAYERS GO!

The Demoratic Congress’s tax-reporting mess.

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

IRS starts mopping up Congress’s tax-reporting mess. The new regulations, which kick in at the start of 2012, require any taxpayer with business income to issue 1099 forms to all vendors from whom they purchased more than $600 of goods and services that year. That promises to launch a fusillade of new paperwork: An estimated 40 million taxpayers will be subject to the requirement, including 26 million who run sole proprietorships, according to a report released this week by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson.

Just go to the Obama web site and you will see this:
The Solution Get the economy back on track:
President Obama signed legislation to jumpstart our economy, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, less than a month after his inauguration. The plan will save or create 3.5 million new jobs, make critical investments in our infrastructure and give 95 percent of working Americans a tax cut.

HOW IS ALL THAT jumpstart WORKING FOR YOU. Now the Obama and Democratic Congress have decided to make the business of business even harder and more expensive… WHY?
Read this article.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/09/smallbusiness/irs_1099_flood/

Democrats’ tax bill moves toward vote in US Senate.

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

MAY BE the elitist Congress should do something Obama isn’t! Work on helping business so that they can create jobs for Americans instead of making people look for handouts.

WASHINGTON
Tue, Jun 8 2010WASHINGTON June 14 (Reuters) – A Democratic plan to extend benefits for the jobless that would also more than double the tax rate for investment fund managers will likely get its first test on Wednesday in the U.S. Senate.

Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday moved toward an initial vote on a $126 billion bill to extend unemployment insurance that ran out last month for hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Americans and renew a set of popular business tax breaks.
Under Senate rules, the vote on whether to limit debate on the legislation will likely occur Wednesday. Sixty votes are needed out of the 100-member Senate.

Complaints by fiscally conservative Democrats about the plan’s price tag and opposition by some Democrats to the investment fund manager tax has stalled the proposal.
According to several lobbyists, the majority Democrats remain shy of the 60 votes necessary. They need to attract as least one Republican plus keep all of the 59 votes they generally hold in the chamber.
Over the next 10 years, the Senate proposal would increase direct spending by $126 billion and add $22 billion in funding to prevent a 21 percent payment cut to doctors in the Medicare program, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.
The total package adds about $80 billion to the deficit over that period, according to CBO.
The legislation’s so-called carried interest tax proposal would require fund managers to pay the much higher ordinary income tax rate on a majority of their income from managing investors’ money.
The Senate version would tax 65 percent of fund managers’ income at the higher rate. A tougher House version would tax 75 percent at ordinary income rates.
Currently, they only pay a 15 percent capital gains tax rate on this income, while ordinary income is taxed at a maximum of 35 percent. The top tax rate is set to rise to 39.6 percent in 2011, the year this legislation would take effect.
Republicans have offered a stripped-down alternative that would extend unemployment insurance for 30 days, but excludes the controversial tax-raising provisions. It also excludes a provision extending tax-exempt Build America Bonds, created in the stimulus plan last year.