Rep for DC: Violating the Framers' Vision and Constitutional Commands
The Senate will soon consider S. 160, the District of Columbia House Voting Rights Act of 2009, which would grant the District of Columbia a representative in Congress and provide an additional representative to Utah until the next reapportionment. The House of Representatives passed similar legislation in the previous Congress and is considering a related measure, H.R. 157, in the present session. The case for granting full congressional representation to District residents rests on the theory of government by consent and the failure to recognize that, although they lack direct voting representation, District residents do not want for representation of their interests and concerns. This is not a historical accident but an integral part of the Framers' plan for a "federal town" designed to serve the needs of the federal government, as all Members of Congress would share responsibility for the city's well-being.

Welcome to European Socialism – Porkulous Passes
The U.S. Congress gave final approval to President Barack Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package in hopes of wresting the economy out of recession through a mix of tax cuts and federal spending. The Senate approved the package 60 to 38 with three Republicans joining Democrats in voting “yes.” Earlier today, the House passed the measure 246 to 183 with no Republicans in favor and seven Democrats opposed. The bill, Obama’s first major victory on Capitol Hill, now heads to his desk to be signed into law.

Tax troubles for president's chief of staff
There could be tax troubles on the horizon for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who reportedly has lived rent-free in Washington for five years but hasn't paid taxes on the imputed income from that, according to reports. He's the latest in a growing list of President Obama's nominees to have been involved in tax issues, according to those tabulating the tally in Washington.

GOP Leader on Passing Porkulous
GOP House Leader John Boehner goes ballistic on Porkulous Bill not being vetted well enough by the members of Congress.

The GOP Traitors Speak
The comic highlight here: Snowe’s invocation at 1:05 of the “original principles of the Republican party.” Which original GOP principle was it, I wonder, that calls for trillion-dollar Keynesian experiments in spending as a solution to recession? Note also how careful CBS was to include Collins’s salute to Margaret Chase Smith, who was “known for taking on her party.” The media’s Strange New Respect for these two ain’t that strange, is it?

GOP Governors Consider Turning Down Bailout
A handful of Republican governors are considering turning down some money from the federal stimulus package. Though none has outright rejected the money available for education, health care and infrastructure, the governors of Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alaska, South Carolina and Idaho have all questioned whether the $787 billion bill signed into law this week will even help the economy. Opponents, meanwhile, say they're are putting conservative ideology ahead of the needs of constituents.

Thanks God for South Carolinians DeMint and Sanford
One is a junior U.S. senator from a small, conservative state. The other is a governor and former congressman known for sleeping on his couch in Washington and bringing pigs to the state Capitol to protest what he saw as pork-barrel spending. Sen. Jim DeMint and Gov. Mark Sanford are major political players in South Carolina, but they have been blips on the national political screen.

CBO: Obama’s Stimulus Will Cause 'Lower Wages' for American Workers
In its analysis, the CBO predicts that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will increase GDP through 2014. However, in the following years, “the legislation is estimated to reduce GDP by between 0 and 0.2 percent.” That decrease will not come from lack of employment, which the CBO predicts will increase by between 800,000 and 2.3 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2009 and up to 3.6 million by the fourth quarter of 2010. “The effect on employment is never estimated to be negative, despite lower GDP in later years, because CBO expects that the U.S. labor market will be at nearly full employment in the long run,” the CBO report states. But the analysis adds, “The reduction in GDP is therefore estimated to be reflected in lower wages rather than lower employment, as workers will be less productive because capital stock is smaller.”

Democrats self-destructing over ethics
The Obama administration and the new Congress are quickly handing over to Republicans the same "culture of corruption" issue that Democrats used so effectively against the GOP before coming to power. Freshman Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., is only the latest embarrassment. Senate Democrats accepted Burris because they believed what he told them: He was clean. Burris now admits he tried to raise money for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who authorities say sought to sell President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

Phoenix Reels as Mexican Drug Kidnappings, Violence Grows
An unprecedented wave of Third World-style kidnappings by well-armed drug gangs in Phoenix have stymied city leaders and law enforcement while driving up the city’s crime rate dramatically. Despite arrests and the dismantlement of at least 20 kidnapping “cells,” the crime wave has turned the city into the “kidnap for ransom capital” of the United States. Police say the crimes are linked to the local drug trade the surrounding Valley of the Sun is a national distribution hub for the U.S. drug trade but others suggest that Mexico’s narcotics war has now fully engulfed the city. Police received 366 kidnapping-for-ransom reports last year, 359 in 2007 authorities estimate twice that number go unreported, according to the Los Angeles Times. In September, police spun off a separate detective unit to handle only these smuggling-related kidnappings and home-invasion robberies. Its detectives are now considered among the nation’s most expert in those crimes.

Pope Benedict XVI Tells Speaker Nancy Pelosi Catholics Must Oppose Abortion
Pope Benedict XVI told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a Wednesday meeting that Catholics have an obligation to oppose abortion. Pelosi is a longtime abortion advocate who has gone as far as supporting taxpayer funded abortions and opposing a partial-birth abortion ban. The pontiff told the highest-ranking female politician in the United States that Catholic elected officials have a duty to protect human life "at all stages of its development." Benedict reminded Pelosi of the Catholic Church's teaching "on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death." He also said Catholics, especially those put in a position to affect public policy, should promote "a just system of laws capable of protecting human life at all stages of its development."

Obama Census Move a ‘Nixonian’ Power Grab
Hours after President Barack Obama’s second nominee for Commerce secretary withdrew his nomination on Thursday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich delivered a sharp critique of the new administration and also knocked the spending policies of the former George W. Bush administration. Twice calling the Obama White House “Nixonian,” Gingrich criticized the administration for its partisan economic stimulus bill and called to attention the turbulent cabinet nominations by Obama.

GOP Calls Obama’s Census Plans Unconstitutional, an ‘Assault on Democracy’
Republican leader Rep. John Boehner (Ohio) said the White House plan would undermine the fairness and accuracy of the census. He also said that Obama’s plans could result in massive waste and fraud. “This unprecedented move by the president, I think, would undermine the goal of having a fair and accurate census count,” Boehner told reporters at the press conference. “I think it would also open the door to massive amounts of waste and fraud in terms of the $300 billion that’s distributed around our country based on the census data.” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said that there was no legal or constitutional basis for Obama’s plans, citing the fact that Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which contains the census provision, spells out the powers of Congress -- not of the president or executive branch.

Arizona legislators move to protect unborn and civil rights of health care workers
Following Republican Jan Brewer’s move from secretary of state to Governor of Arizona, the state’s legislature is attempting to pass a combination of abortion-related regulations, which were defeated under her predecessor, Gov. Janet Napolitano. One supporter calls the bill the "most significant" legislation ever proposed in the state. The Center for Arizona Policy and the Arizona Catholic Conference are two major backers of the bill, which has secured 12 of 30 state senators and 27 of 60 representatives as sponsors. The bill, HB 2564, would require women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion and would provide “informed consent” requirements, the East Valley Tribune says. Under the proposed law, a woman considering an abortion must be provided in person the details of the nature of the killing procedure and the risks associated with it. Such women must also be told the probable gestational age of the unborn child, and the child’s “probable anatomical and physiological characteristics.”

Where does your state rank in religious belief?
A recent poll of more than 350,000 Americans on the importance of religion revealed that the nation is separated into enclaves of widely divergent viewpoints on faith, with some states and regions clearly religious and others significantly secular.

Former astronaut scoffs at global warming
Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, one of the last men to walk on the moon and a former U.S. senator from New Mexico, doesn't buy the idea that humans are causing global warming. "I don't think the human effect is significant compared to the natural effect," he said. Schmitt, who is among 70 skeptics scheduled speak at an international conference next month, admitted his beliefs fly in the face of the political consensus that burning fossil fuels has increased carbon-dioxide levels, temperatures and sea levels. Scientists who disagree with this scenario "are being intimidated," Schmitt said. "They've seen too many of their colleagues lose grant funding when they haven't gone along with the so-called political consensus that we're in a human-caused global warming."

Euthanasia a ‘false solution’ to suffering, Pope says
Speaking before thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus prayer today, Pope Benedict XVI rejected euthanasia as a “false solution” to suffering. Reflecting on the Gospel reading for this Sunday, the Holy Father recalled a singular characteristic of the of the Gospel of Mark, the so-called “Messianic Secret,” that is, Jesus’ command to his followers not to reveal to others that he is the Messiah.

Embryonic Stem Cells Caused Tumors in Boy
A family desperate to save a child from a lethal brain disease sought highly experimental injections of fetal stem cells injections that triggered tumors in the boy's brain and spinal cord, Israeli scientists reported, Scientists are furiously trying to harness different types of stem cells—the building blocks for other cells in the body to regrow damaged tissues and thus treat devastating diseases. But for all the promise, researchers have long warned that they must learn to control newly injected stem cells so they don't grow where they shouldn't, and small studies in people are only just beginning.

Jailhouse Islam Convert Murders Officer
After a man promised to murder a cop in cold blood and then shot him several times, authorities have revealed he is a suspected "jailhouse Islam" convert. Rasheed Scrugs, 33, also known as Rasheed Abdulghaffer, shot Philadelphia Police Officer John Pawlowski. On Sept. 19, 2006, Donald Van Duyn, deputy assistant director for the FBI counterterrorism division, testified before Congress about U.S. prisons presenting opportunities for the proselytizing of Sunni and Shia forms of radical Islam. "Prison radicalization primarily occurs through anti-U.S. sermons provided by contract, volunteer, or staff imams, radicalized inmates who gain religious influence, and extremist media," he said. "Ideologies that radicalized inmates appear most often to embrace include or are influenced by the Salafi form of Sunni Islam (including revisionist versions commonly known as 'prison Islam') and an extremist view of Shia Islam similar to that of the government of Iran and Lebanese Hezbollah." "The feeling of perceived oppression, combined with their limited knowledge of Islam, especially for the converts, makes this a vulnerable population for extremists looking to radicalize and recruit," he said.

U.S. Muslim TV Founder Charged With Beheading Wife Profiled in '04 By NBC,/a>
The founder of Bridges TV, Buffalo-based "American Muslim Lifestyle Network," was charged yesterday with the beheading of his wife at the TV station. A little more than four years earlier, the couple were profiled on the NBC Nightly News by Ron Allen. "I hope long-term, Bridges TV can play a role towards a better understanding between America and Islam," Muzzammil Hassan said at the time. His wife, Aasiya Hassan, had recently filed for divorce.

Accused Billionaire Financier Accused of Fraud Linked to Clinton, Pelosi & DNC
Authorities tell ABC News that as part of the investigation, which has been ongoing since last year, Mexican authorities detained one of Stanford's private planes. According to officials, checks found inside the plane were believed to be connected to the Gulf cartel, reputed to be Mexico's most violent gang. Authorities say Stanford could potentially face criminal charges of money laundering and bribery of foreign officials. Authorities say the SEC action against Stanford Tuesday may have complicated the federal drug investigation. The federal investigation, however, did not stop Stanford from using corporate money to become a big man at last year's Democratic convention in Denver. A video posted on the firm's web-site shows Stanford, now sought by U.S. Marshals, being hugged by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and praised by former President Bill Clinton for helping to finance a convention-related forum and party put on by the National Democratic Institute. Over the last decade, Stanford has spent more than $7 million on lobbyists and campaign contributions to Democrats.

Border Patrolmen free from prison
Convicted former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean were released from federal prison this morning and are en route to join their families in El Paso, Texas. Characterizing Ramos and Compean's incarceration as a "political prosecution," Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, a former judge, called for a congressional investigation into alleged prosecutorial misconduct by El Paso U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton under the direction of Bush administration Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Poe also called for an investigation into the alleged role of the Mexican government in demanding that Ramos and Compean be prosecuted.

Mexico: The Third War
Mexico has pretty much always been a rough-and-tumble place. In recent years, however, the security environment has deteriorated rapidly, and parts of the country have become incredibly violent. It is now common to see military weaponry such as fragmentation grenades and assault rifles used almost daily in attacks.

Megyn Kelly punks Bill Press on Fairness Doctrine
We got a lot of e-mail about the confrontation between Megyn Kelly and longtime libtalker Bill Press over the Fairness Doctrine, and for good reason. Watch as Bill Press tried to explain Air America’s failure as “running out of money” but avoids Kelly’s conclusion that failing to get listeners was the cause of the cash drought.

New AG Holder: When it comes to race, America is a “nation of cowards”
So saith the first black Attorney General, appointed by the black president we cowardly Americans just elected which, last time I checked, is one more than any European country’s ever elected during a speech honoring America’s officially recognized Black History Month. The key bit comes about a minute in. There’s nothing shocking about this, unless it’s how pedestrian it is. It’s the same old nonsense about having an “honest” conversation on race, which typically means agreeing root and branch with the leftist position on any policy issue that touches that subject (e.g., illegal immigration) on penalty of being called a racist.

Where is America’s William Wallace?
This cartoon speaks for itself.

Police Violate Constitutional Right to Free Speech in Birmingham
Pro-life protesters who were arrested on a public sidewalk near a high school in Birmingham, Alabama on Thursday have accused police of violating their ‘basic civil rights.’ The Survivors Campus Life Tour said that nine protesting group members were standing on a public sidewalk near Parker High School distributing educational literature to passing students. Two of the group’s members held large signs and conversed with students on the public sidewalk. The protesters were arrested by local police and then taken to the Birmingham City Jail. Survivors Campus Life Tour says the protesters were held for six hours without water or access to a phone. Protesters said several of the guards at the jail also serve as security guards at a local abortion clinic.

Kansas suspends income tax refunds
Kansas has suspended income tax refunds and may not be able to pay employees on time, the state's budget director said Monday. The state doesn't have enough money in its main bank account to pay its bills, prompting Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to suggest transferring $225 million from other accounts throughout state government.

1000 in Overland Park Hear About Forced Late-Term Abortion As Kansas Laws are Ignored
Nearly 1000 at the Kansans for Life 2009 Valentine Banquet on Thursday night in Overland Park heard a shocking story about a forced, late-term abortion at Dr. Tiller’s clinic in Wichita in 2003. A brave couple, Michelle and Pedro Armesto, told how Michelle’s parents pressured her into a late-term abortion in 2003 at Dr. Tiller’s Clinic days before her graduation at K-State. But that incident wasn’t enough to breakup their strong relationship, and they are now married with children.

The Mad Science of KDHE Secretary Rod Bremby
A new interim state policy on carbon dioxide emissions issued by Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Rod Bremby (Sebelius Appointee) is simply “political gamesmanship,” according to Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, whose plans to expand a coal plant in Holcomb have been snarled by the Sebelius administration. The interim guideline announced by Bremby recently, who has no medical or scientific credentials, “makes it more evident than ever that a legislative fix is necessary to restore public confidence in the regulatory process.” One such proposal, House Bill 2182, which would effectively strip the KDHE secretary of authority over air quality permits. The bill also would allow Sunflower to re-submit its application for an air quality permit. Rep. Carl Holmes, a Republican from Liberal and chair of the House Energy and Utilities Committee, said committee members have been reviewing energy-related proposals since last week, and that it was his intention to have an energy bill emerge from the committee this week.

Porn Bill Being Considered in Kansas
The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony Monday on the Community Defense Act and on the Uniform Health Care Decisions Act. The first would regulate the location and operation of adult-themed businesses on a state-wide basis. The second would seek to clarify the wishes of persons in the final stages of life. Proponents of the Community Defense Act argued the regulations would help alleviate some of the secondary negative impacts of these businesses. “Sexually-oriented businesses and their toxic effects on the community are real,” said Phillip Cosby, the executive director of the Kansas City Office for the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families. Cosby dismissed fears that the bill may not pass constitutional muster by pointing out a Community Defense Act had been passed in Ohio and had been upheld as constitutional.

Senator wants to reduce Legislature
Sen. Chris Steineger wants to cut the size of the Legislature by 45 people, but he doesn't have much support among colleagues. The Kansas City Democrat presented his idea Tuesday to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. It's chairman, Pete Brungardt, a Salina Republican, said he has no plans to bring the bill up for a committee vote, unless the majority of its members supports it. He said that's not the case now. Steineger wants to reduce the size of the Senate from 40 members to 30 members and cut the House from 125 to 90 representatives. He said the state would be better off with fewer legislators and longer legislative sessions.

Benedictine College Chosen has one of Best Catholic Colleges
The Catholic colleges that have the most pro-life identities have made it to the top of the list the Cardinal Newman Society has put together of the most affordable Catholic universities. The group's new report reveals that some of the most faithful Catholic colleges are the most affordable. The Catholic colleges profiled in The Newman Guide were chosen for their quality education and for the priority that they place on Catholic identity in all aspects of campus life. In that sense we have always believed that the recommended colleges were ‘best buys’ for families based on fidelity to Catholic teachings, but with the publication of this affordability study we now know that they are also truly economic ‘best buys’ too,” he noted. “The combination of faithful Catholic education and lower costs should put Newman Guide colleges at the top of any family’s list as they begin to make decisions on which college to attend in the fall," he said. The recommended Newman Guide colleges are Ave Maria University, Aquinas College (Tenn.), Belmont Abbey College, Benedictine College, The Catholic University of America, Christendom College, The College of Saint Thomas More (Texas), DeSales University, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Holy Apostles College & Seminary, and John Paul the Great Catholic University. They also include Magdalen College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy, St. Gregory’s University, Southern Catholic College, Thomas Aquinas College, The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (N.H.), University of Dallas, University of St. Thomas (Texas), and Wyoming Catholic College. Benedictine is located in Atchison, Kansas.

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."
– President Barack Hussein Obama

No, Mr. President. Your job is to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic!

From Proverbs 15:27
“He who is greedy of gain brings ruin on his own house, but he who hates bribes will live.”

Gospel - Mk 8:22-26

22 And they came to Bethsaida: and they bring to him a blind man. And they besought him that he would touch him.
23 And taking the blind man by the hand, he led him out of the town. And spitting upon his eyes, laying his hands on him, he asked him if he saw any thing.
24 And looking up, he said: I see men, as it were trees, walking.
25 After that again he laid his hands upon his eyes: and he began to see and was restored, so that he saw all things clearly.
26 And he sent him into his house, saying: Go into thy house, and if thou enter into the town, tell nobody.

An Open Letter to the Congress and the President of the United States

For the last 35 years, educators and analysts at The Heritage Foundation have been intimately involved in the nation's great public policy debates. In all that time, we have never encountered legislation with such far-reaching and revolutionary policy implications as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act currently before Congress. And never have we seen a bill more cloaked in secrecy or more withdrawn from open public exposure and honest debate.

In addition to being the single most expensive bill ever proposed, this measure calls for a massive expansion of the federal government's reach into the day-to-day life of virtually every citizen, business and civic organization in the nation. That, in itself, should be the subject of an extensive public conversation and thoughtful debate. Instead, we have seen Congressional leaders schedule snap votes on a 1,434-page bill that no one—repeat, no one—has had a chance to read in its entirety, much less digest and deliberate.

This bill has been advertised as an economic stimulus bill—despite the fact that the Congressional Budget Office estimates it will actually weaken our nation's long-term economic growth. While the stimulative utility of the bill is, at best, questionable, it would unquestionably rewrite the social contract between the American people and their government. For example:

The bill reverses the bipartisan and highly successful welfare reforms of 1996 and drastically expands the welfare state. For instance, it will start rewarding states for adding people to their welfare rolls, rather than for helping them find gainful employment. And contrary to long-established practice, it will entitle able-bodied adults without children to receive cash assistance.

It does extreme violence to the concept of federalism—bailing out states that have spent irresponsibly at the expense of taxpayers in states that have been fiscally prudent.

It greatly shifts the responsibility and power over health care delivery and decision making from individuals to government. Among other things, it would create a new federal health board to decide which medical services are "effective" in America, paving the way for government effectively to overrule the clinical decisions of private physicians.

It deliberately censors religious speech and worship on school campuses by prohibiting use of any "stimulus" funds for facilities that are used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school of divinity.

The list goes on. These and similar provisions will mean fundamental changes in our society. In many instances, the bill would establish policies that directly challenge widely held American values.

We are appalled that Congress is even contemplating such profound changes with so little openness and due diligence. In the past, major policy changes in our welfare system, or health care, or trade policies, etc., were always, quite properly, preceded by extensive public conversation and full debate. That is how a democracy should make important decisions.

The failure of Congress and the Administration to allow that debate is damaging to our democracy. Both chambers of Congress suspended their budget rules to push it along. And both the President and the leaders of the House and Senate have violated their solemn promises that the bill would be available for several days of public review prior to voting, so that the American people might have a chance to learn what is in the bill and to make their views known to their elected officials.

This reckless approach to governance can only undermine public faith in our elected officials and our government as a whole. We call on Congress and the Administration to live up to their promises and stated ideals, and give the democratic process a chance to work.

Source - Click here