Oink...and then some!

"Sadly, the highway bill that passed the U.S. House of Representativeslast week was a pork-stuffed budget-buster. ... In 1987, Ronald Reaganvetoed a highway bill he called a 'textbook example of pork barrelpolitics.' That bill contained 152 earmarks. The 1998 highway bill,the first one after Republicans took control of Congress, had 1,850-- more than 12 times as many. This year's bill, after 10 years ofRepublican control, has more than 4,000." --Rep. John Shadegg

What Congress giveth, Congess can taketh away....

http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/kdaly/2005/krd_03281.shtml

Forgive me, Lord, for complaining.

Today was supposed to be a good day. You know what I'm talking about. A day of accomplishment, good news, hope for tomorrow. And yet one thing after another smacked me across the face, eating up precious moments and what energy I can muster every day with the back injuries I deal with.

Then the calls started. It was one thing after another. Calls about unfinished projects. Need for information. Starting new projects. Calls about unreturned calls. Calls from family and friends wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth. Calls about conference calls. Calls about meetings. Calls about calls. Just one darned thing after another.

And meanwhile, I find it harder and harder to swallow as Terri Schiavo is slowly starved to death. But what started off as a potentially hopeful day on all fronts, including even Terri's battle, started to turn south as the hours wore on.

Then, I received an email from a dear, dear friend. It is sometimes odd who the good Lord chooses to deliver His messages to us, but they sure are loud and clear when we get them. As much physical pain as this back may cause me, as much aggravation as my ever-growing "to-do" list is causing me, this simple, beautiful message brought me right back to the priorities and the blessings. Sometimes it all comes down to an ice cream sandwich.

Here is what I received:

Written by a Navy Commander at a port in Kuwait ... No commentaryneeded, the 3-minute read below says more than a 20-page article could about our warriors and the constitution of our men.

Where do we get such men?
**********************************
"They are so damn young" I was going to the gym tonight (really just a huge tent with weightsand treadmills), and we had heard that one of the MEUs (Marine ExpUnits) that had come out of service in the "triangle" was redeploying(leaving country).

We saw their convoy roll in to the Kuwait NavalBase as the desert sun was setting. I have never seen anything like this. Trucks and humvees that lookedlike they had just come through a shredder. Their equipment was fullof shrapnel blast holes, and missing entire major pieces that youcould tell had been blasted by IEDs.

These kids looked bad too! I mean, sunken eyes, thin as rails, and that 1000-yd. stare they talkabout after direct combat. Made me pretty damn embarrassed to be a"rear area warrior".

All people could do was stop in their tracks and stare... and feel like me...like I wanted to bow my head in reverence. A Marine Captain stationed with me, was standing next to me, also headed to the gym. He said, "Part of 1st Brigade Combat Team, 8th Marines, sir. Took the heaviest losses of any single unit up north as part of Task ForceDanger, sir."

As the convoy rolled up, all of us watching just slowly crept towardthese kids as they dismounted the Hummers and 5-tons. Of course, we were all shiny and clean compared to these warriors. These kids looked like they had just crawled from Iraq. I had my security badge and idaround my neck, and started to help them unload some of their dufflebags.

A crusty Gunny came up to me and said "sir, you don't have to do that..." I said, "Gunny... yes I do..." They all looked like they werein high school, or younger!! All held themselves sharply andconfident, despite the extreme fatigue you could tell they hadendured.

"You guys out of the triangle?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. 14 months, and twice into the grinder, sir" (both fights for Fallujah).

All I could do was throw my arm around their shoulders and say "thanks Marine, for taking the fight to the bad guys...we love you man." I looked at these young kids, not one of them complaining or showing signs of anything but focus, and good humor.

'Sir, they got ice cream at the DFAC, sir?"

"I haven't had real ice cream since we got here..."

They continued to unload... and after I had done my handshakes andshoulder hugs, the Captain and I looked at each other ... They want ice cream, we'll get them ice cream. You see, a squid O-5and a focused Marine O-3 can get just about anything, even if the messis closed.

Needless to say, we raided the closed DFAC (mess tent),much to the chagrin of one very pissed off Mess Sergeant and grabbed boxes of ice cream sandwiches (as many as we could carry), and hustledback to the convoy. I felt like Santa Claus.

"Thank you, sir.." again and again from each trooper, as we tossed up the bars to the guys in the trucks.

I'm thinkin', "Son, what the hell are you thanking me for?I can't thank you enough."

And they are so damned young ... I will sleep well, knowing they are watching my back tonight."

BINGO! Bork is right again.

Check out this article.

It apparently is completely lost on most Americans (and that includes many Congressmen) that all federal courts except the Supreme Court are a creation of Congress. And what Congress createth, Congress can taketh away.

The Constitution created the Supreme Court and states that Congress "MAY" create lower courts. In other words -- if Congress so desired, they could do away with the whole darned federal judiciary, except the Supreme Court. What that ALSO means, is that they can expand or limit jurisdiction and as Judge Bork correctly points out, this happens with great frequency.

In fact, if Congress wanted to, they could create a special federal court JUST for Terry Schiavo - - just to rule on her case. There are tax courts, bankruptcy courts -- hey, why not a Terry Schiavo court?

What apparently has the Left's panties in a collective wad is the notion that "Life" might be discussed outside of their preferred domain -- the eminating in the microscopic penumbras of the "right to privacy doctrine." Got a lot goin' for it, but it ain't in the Constitution, folks.

There are a couple of bills pending in Congress -- languishing is more like it -- that would limit the jurisdiction of the courts. Long past time to pass these bills.

Just call me Nikki....

So the Washington Post has done a "Usual Suspects" column on moi.

Same story, different nominees

Column up here.

A question for Teddy Kennedy.....

Is starving a woman to death torture?

Save the Date! April 7-8

Conference on Judicial nominations --
You can register online at http://www.stopactivistjudges.org/

George WIll is wrong, Mark Levin is right.

HERE is Mark Levin's beautiful response to Will's off the mark defense of judicial filibusters.

If only Terri was on death row.....

......Then all of these liberals who want to see Terri Schiavo dead would be stomping around about her "rights." Heaven forbid an inmate doesn't get a certain kind of peanut butter, but Terri isn't allowed to get any form of rehabilitative care.

Why is it that liberals treat the convicted and animals better than the innocent (whether pre-born or born)?

The President, Congress, Governor Bush, Terri's lawyers and a host of activists, citizens and believers have truly gone above and beyond the call of duty to save this one young lady's life.

Right now, as my family sits down to dinner, Terri Schiavo is slowly, painfully, starving to death. I feel a lump in my throat whenever I look at food knowing that what blessing I have taken for granted is being denied an innocent woman. Looks like Judge Greer and his buddy Michael Schiavo are finally going to have their way.

May God have mercy on THEIR souls.

Johnny Edwards has a new job.

For all of you all who were worried about John Edwards, former Senator from North Carolina, former Veep candidate for John Kerry, never fear.

The thoughtful folks at UNC Chapel Hill have created a job for Johnny. He will direct an entirely new "Center" that will study "Poverty" and "Opportunity." I think that's just swell. A multi-millionaire trial lawyer is going to study "poverty." And probably get a salary from UNC Chapel Hill as well. So the non-multi-millionaire taxpayers of North Carolina will have the "opportunity" to fund Johnny Edwards as he theorizes on "poverty." Oh, and as he travels around the country for plenty of pretty-boy photo opportunities for his 2008 Presidential bid.

Too many ironies to count in this one, folks. I don't know which one I like better -- the idea that a multi-millionaire has created a taxpayer boondoggle so that he can run around the country and lecture us all on poverty (which couldn't POSSIBLY be caused by trial lawyers, big government, higher taxes, excessive regulation and the like) OR the idea that his only idea for creating opportunity and wealth seems to focus on the redistribution of wealth via lawsuits, running for Vice President, then gaining just enough "street cred" (cause he has SUCH good hair) to have a major university create an entire department to fund your PR campaign for President.

So I'm just gonna get out the lawn chair, pop some corn and watch the fun.

Convenient activism

From our friend Chuck Muth:

"Chuck: Have you noticed that the people who support activist judges are the same people who insist on respecting the tradition of Senate rules? If the Constitution is a 'living and breathing document' then what is so sacred about the rules of the Senate?"
- News & Views reader Dave Undis

I've known some tough grandmothers in my day.....but.....

Ann Coulter has it exactly right. The day of this horror in Atlanta, I was chatting with a prominent lawyer-type here in DC and he was marvelling about the whole disaster. My first question to him was about how common it was that dangerous, violent felon criminal types who are 200 pound former linebackers are allowed to be guarded/managed/handled by 51 year old grandmothers. That's just nuts and Ann makes some great points in her piece on the subject.

All you gadget people....a question....

Considering a Palm Treo 650 vs. a Blackberry.

Give me feedback on your thoughts on the subject, please.

Hard drive disaster

My hard drive crashed and it has been an absolute disaster to put things back together.

But I'm back. And I have much to blog about. Stand by.

Send in the federal marshals NOW.

So Terry Schiavo has been subpoenaed by Congress to testify. That means her health and well-being should be protected by federal marshals, right?

Send in the marshals and get that feeding tube back in place.

The folks at PETA wouldn't stand for a dog being starved to death and quite frankly, I don't know why we are putting up with this barbarism. Peggy Nooonan is correct -- Republicans could pay dearly for her death.

Who are these people?

"Desperate Housewives" is the big "must watch" hit for the pop-culture hip set.

According to this amusing article by the New York Post's Chris Erikson, the show may not be too far off from reality. I just don't get it. Who are these women and why are they throwing themselves at workmen, gardners, etc.?

Sounds a little more like wishful thinking with a heavy dose of Penthouse forum than anything close to the lives of most housewives I know.

Byrdbusting the filibuster

Time -- long past time -- for the very senior Senator from West Virginia to retire.



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2005

CFFJ CALLS ON BYRD TO APOLOGIZE FOR
OUTRAGEOUS REMARKS

Compares Senate Republican Efforts to Halt Unconstitutional Obstruction of
Judicial Nominees to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany

(Washington, DC) – The Coalition for a Fair Judiciary today called on the United States Senator Robert Byrd to apologize for his outrageous statements in a speech delivered on the floor of the United States Senate in which he compared Senate Republican efforts to confirm judicial nominees with a simple majority vote rather than the unconstitutional supermajority imposed by a minority of Senators, to Hitler’s Nazi Germany.

“The Anti-Defamation League has condemned in the strongest terms possible the insensitive language used by Senator Byrd and we could not agree more,” said Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary. “Given the Senator’s past affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan and his numerous attempts to change Senate rules in the past, the hypocrisy of his rant on the Senate floor is stunning.”

Specifically, the statement released yesterday by the Anti-Defamation League read as follows:

Contact: Myrna Shinbaum, Todd Gutnick, both of the Anti-Defamation League
NEW YORK, March 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed outrage at the remarks of West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, who suggested that some Republican tactics on judicial nominations were similar to Adolf Hitler's use of power in Nazi Germany. In remarks on the Senate floor yesterday, Sen. Byrd compared a Senate rule cutting off debate on nominations to Hitler's use of constitutional means to push legislation through the German Reichstag at the start of the Nazi era.

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
“It is hideous, outrageous and offensive for Senator Byrd to suggest that the Republican Party's tactics could in any way resemble those of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

The Senator shows a profound lack of understanding as to who Hitler was and what he and his regime represented. Senator Byrd must repudiate his remarks immediately and apologize to the American people for showing such disrespect for this country's democratic process.”

“Senator Byrd is no stranger to Senate rules changes,” said Daly. “It would appear, however, that he is in favor of changing the rules only when it suits his immediate political goals. To stand on the Senate floor and denounce Republicans in the most crude, despicable terms for actions he once supported and even led the charge on is the height of hypocrisy.”

From the office of Senator John Cornyn (R-TX):

On January 15, 1979, Senator Byrd said, “This Congress is not obliged to be bound by the dead hand of the past. . . . . The first Senate, which met in 1789, approved 19 rules by a majority vote. Those rules have been changed from time to time . . .. So the Members of the Senate who met in 1789 and approved that first body of rules did not for one moment think, or believe, or pretend, that all succeeding Senates would be bound by that Senate. . . . It would be just as reasonable to say that one Congress can pass a law providing that all future laws have to be passed by two-thirds vote. Any Member of this body knows that the next Congress would not heed that law and would proceed to change it and would vote repeal of it by majority vote.”

In fact, Sen. Byrd led the charge to establish new Senate precedents in 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1987 - including a number of precedents that were designed specifically to stop filibusters and other delay tactics that were previously authorized under Senate rules or prior precedents:

In 1977, Senator Byrd led the establishment of a new precedent in order to break a post-cloture filibuster on a natural gas deregulation bill, stating:

“I make the point of order that when the Senate is operating under cloture, the Chair is required to take the initiative under Rule XXII to rule out of order all amendments which are dilatory or which on their face are out of order." That precedent contravened prior precedent, which would have required the Chair to await a point of order from the floor.

In 1979, Senator Byrd led the establishment of a new precedent that allowed the Chair to rule on questions of germaneness raised during the consideration of appropriations bills - notwithstanding Senate Rule XVI, which states that all questions of germaneness on appropriations bills must be decided by the full Senate.

In 1980, Senator Byrd led the establishment of a new precedent to require an immediate vote, without debate, on any motion to go into executive session to consider a particular nomination. His new precedent was specifically designed, in his words, to "deal with a filibuster on the motion to proceed" to a nomination. Previously, a motion to proceed to a particular nomination was debatable. The new precedent was sustained by a vote of 54-38.

In 1987, Senator Byrd caused establishment of a new precedent declaring that certain tactics were to be construed as dilatory during roll call votes and therefore always out of order no matter what - even though the text of the Senate rules had clearly authorized such tactics. Previously, dilatory tactics were out of order only after cloture had been invoked.

The Colorado Conundrum....

To Filibuster or Not To Filibuster, THAT is the question........for newly elected Ken Salazar. Whether tis nobler to cave in to the special interest leftists and the Senate Dem caucus, or suffer the slings and arrows of a constituency that promises were made to in order to get elected.....

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2005

THE COLORADO SENATOR’S CONUNDRUM:
To Filibuster or Not to Filibuster….

Keep his campaign promise to support a fair and simple up-or-down vote for judicial nominees
or cave in to the Washington DC obstructionists?

(Washington, DC) – The Coalition for a Fair Judiciary today called on newly elected United States Senator Ken Salazar to keep his campaign promises and support an up or down vote for the President’s judicial nominees. In a letter to President Bush yesterday, Senator Salazar demanded the withdrawal of the renominations of the judicial nominees filibustered by a minority of Senators.

“It didn’t take Ken Salazar very long to bow to the whims of extreme leftists and break the promise to his constituents to treat the President’s judicial nominees with fairness,” said Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary. “I am quite certain that the voters of Colorado took him at his word when candidate Salazar stated his support for a fair and simple up-or-down vote for judicial nominees. Senator Salazar seems to be singing a different tune than candidate Salazar by demanding the President withdraw his nominees from consideration. Political expedience, thy name is Ken Salazar.”

In a November 8th, 2004 editorial, the Rocky Mountain News stated rather hopefully:

SALAZAR'S PLEDGE One of the most disgracefully partisan spectacles of President Bush's first term was the way Senate Democrats obstructed the appointment of his judicial nominees with filibusters.In a pre-election interview with the News editorial board, Sen.-elect Ken Salazar said he favored an up-or-down vote in the full Senate on judicial nominations. We hope he sticks with that position even if his Democratic colleagues-to-be lean on him, as they are almost certain to do.Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., likely chairman of the Judiciary Committee, has proposed that every nominee should have a committee hearing within 30 days, a committee vote no more than 30 days later, and a floor vote no more than 30 days after that. We urge Salazar to declare even before he takes office that he will support Specter's proposal.

And on MSNBC (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6089481/) candidate Salazar said the following:
As non-partisan as Salazar might hope to be, what would he do as senator if the Democratic leadership asked him to join a filibuster against a Bush judicial nominee? “I would hope all nominees get up or down votes,” Salazar answered. “And the decision on an up-or-down vote should be based on whether or not the president’s nominee is qualified for the position.”
He said a mandatory up-or-down confirmation vote on any nominee within 120 days of the nomination being submitted (an idea that Bush himself has advocated) “is a thoughtful proposal and maybe one that should be pursued.”

In perhaps the most stunning about-face, Senator Salazar, who as Colorado’s Attorney General, signed a letter dated January 30, 2004, supporting William Myers in his nomination to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has now asked the President to withdraw his nominations in his letter dated March 1, 2005.

“Candidate Ken Salazar embraced a reasonable approach to solving the obstruction nightmare that has plagued the judicial nominations process,” said Daly. “Senator Salazar abandoned his campaign promise in record time. It’s a shame that his new buddies in the Senate Democratic caucus and the extreme leftist groups are more important to him than the constituents who put him in his office or the Constitution he swore to protect and defend.”

###

The Case for Filibuster Reform

Find it here.

The Sixth Circuit and the Ten Commandments

Sixth Circuit Shenanigans....

And from the emails I have gotten on this piece, it is the tip of the iceberg.

William Myers -- nomination to the 9th Circuit

The Left is out in force against this nominee, much to the shock of Chairman Specter.

Here's the CFFJ release on the subject:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 125

CONFIRM WILLIAM MYERS
Day 654 in Nomination Purgatory

(Washington, DC) – The Coalition for a Fair Judiciary today called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote William Myers out of committee without further delay. William Myers was first nominated to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on May 15, 2003 and a Judiciary Committee hearing on February 5, 2004.

“It has been 654 days since William Myers was nominated to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The average length of time from nomination to confirmation used to be 87 days,” said Kay Daly, president of the Coalition for a Fair Judiciary. “It is time to stop talking about this nomination and vote on it. What’s left to ask this nominee – his favorite color?”

William Myers is the former Solicitor of the Interior William G. Myers III of Idaho and a highly respected attorney who has extensive experience in the field of natural resources, public lands, and environmental law. Myers has served in the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice and in private practice. His nomination enjoys widespread support from across the ideological and political spectrum.

As an avid outdoorsman and a committed conservationist, Mr. Myers has served as a volunteer for the National Park Service. Over that span, he has logged at least 180 days of volunteer service in numerous national parks, performing trail work, campsite cleaning, visitor assistance, and park patrols. Mr. Myers volunteered 7 days in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, where he worked on trail rehabilitation, tore down and packed out an illegal hunting camp, and conducted backcountry patrol.

“Despite the widespread support for this very qualified nominee, extreme leftist organizations are pulling out the stops to obstruct this nomination,” said Daly. “The decision to hold yet another hearing on this nomination is ludicrous. Given recent comments from the leftists on the Judiciary Committee, it is apparent that whatever olive branch the chairman holds out to them will be shoved into a wood chipper.”
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