Filibusters: A History
May 16, 2005
Amy Ridenour from the National Center for Public Policy Research shares the following from the Senate Republican Conference.
Great Stuff!
Sphere: Related ContentDates Democrats Want to Forget
1787
The year the U.S. Constitution was ratified without the filibuster as part of it1789
The year the Senate was originally constituted with rules that permitted a majority vote to end debate1806
The year that the filibuster became theoretically possible through an inadvertent rules change1837
The year that a filibuster was used for the first time to block legislation1917
The year that a “cloture” rule was adopted to control legislative filibusters1949
The year that the Senate rules were changed to extend cloture to all debatable matters, including nominations1968
The first time a bipartisan filibuster was used to deny a judicial nominee an up-or-down vote. But the nominee, Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, did not have majority support, and was opposed by one-third of his own party. He withdrew his nomination shortly after the failed cloture vote. In contrast, every one of the filibustered judicial nominees in 2003 and 2004 had majority support.1977, 1979, 1980, 1987
The years in which then Senate Majority-Leader Robert Byrd employed the constitutional option in order to limit minority and individual Senators’ rights2003, 2004
The years in which partisan filibusters were used for the first time to deny confirmation to a judicial nominee with majority support. Ten nominees were blocked from getting up-or-down votes due to the filibuster2005
The year the Senate will restore the 214-year tradition of up-or-down votes on every judicial nominee with majority support
LifeNews.com
May 16, 2005
As you can see, I am reading through my LifeNews.com daily email to highlight posts there. Please go to their website and sign up for their daily or weekly updates.
Sphere: Related ContentCase Similar to Terri Schiavo’s
May 16, 2005
LifeNews.com also reports on a case similar to Terri Schiavo’s. A Florida woman want’s to remove the gastric tube feeding her disabled husband.
A case similar to that of Terri Schiavo has a Florida woman holding her husband’s fate in her hands. Schiavo’s family is calling on Jacksonville resident Eliza Thomas to allow her husband to live.Scott Thomas suffered brain injury in September of 2004 and has since been incapacitated and dependent on others. As with Terri, Scott’s wife is seeking to move him to a hospice and remove the gastric tube that provides him with food and water. Scott’s mother, Pamela Patton, has petitioned the courts for guardianship of the disabled man and was awarded a temporary guardianship. . . .
Despite Eliza’s desire to end her husband’s life, Patton says her son speaks a limited vocabulary, answers yes or no questions with hand signals, and can tell basic factual information about himself such as his former school and hometown.
It’s time to stop the madness. Can we not get it right [legally] on this one at least and make Terri Schiavo’s fate work a miracle for this man?
Sphere: Related ContentAbortion Increases Risk of Premature Birth
May 16, 2005
LifeNews.com reports that a French study shows that premature birth increases by 70% for women who have had abortions.
Just another in a litany of reasons to have objections to abortion from a medical perspective, not just a moral one.
—————
UPDATE: Another sad bit of information about the medical effects of abortion is reported by The Drudge Report. According to Drudge, one in three women in Great Britain who have abortions have had more than one in their lifetime including one woman who had six in the last 12 months. And women 20 to 24 have taken over teenagers as the largest group of women seeking abortions.
"Scrappy Local Newspaper Struggles For Survival "
May 15, 2005
Iowa Hawk waxes nostalgic on the glory days of the New York Times.
Sphere: Related ContentAbortion as a Factor in Judicial Nominees
May 13, 2005
The Gallup Organization has an interesting poll out showing who is paying attention to the fight over judicial nominees in the Senate.
It turns out that 45% of people said it was very important “to them, personally, that future U.S. Supreme Court nominees share their views on abortion.” Of these, 53% said they are pro-life. Though Americans polled by Gallup break 48% pro-choice and 44% pro-life, the “very important” number should be of major concern to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. This is the constituency which is watching his every move on this. And if they become a depressed vote in 2006, it could mean disaster for Republicans.
It is important to note as you read through the Gallup survey that pro-life voters are much more active overall than pro-choice voters. The pro-choice agenda is not one that inspires action in those who claim they are pro-choice or those who take no firm position at all. Whereas pro-lifers are generally very motivated to work on behalf of candidates they support.
Sphere: Related ContentLiberal Bias at Google
May 13, 2005
RightMarch.com documents liberal bias of which it has been the victim in ads it attempted to place with search engine Google.com.
It turns out that Democrat groups which are advertising in opposition to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are allowed to run their ads, but with RightMarch.com attempted to run ads in opposition to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, they were denied because, “Google policy does not permit ad text that advocates against an individual, group or organization.”
This is all well documented here. Fascinating example of liberal control of some parts of the internet (and Google is no small player). One need only see the ads that show up at the top of this blog.
Sphere: Related ContentAir Force Academy Christians Under Fire
May 12, 2005
Now this is the shock of the century: there are christians at the Air Force Academy (some in influential positions), and they are actually encouraging cadets to follow Christ.
New York Times: “A chaplain at the Air Force Academy has described a ’systemic and pervasive’ problem of religious proselytizing at the academy and says a religious tolerance program she helped create to deal with the problem was watered down after it was shown to officers, including the major general who is the Air Force’s chief chaplain.The academy chaplain, Capt. MeLinda Morton, 48, spoke publicly for the first time as an Air Force task force arrived at the academy in Colorado Springs on Tuesday to investigate accusations that officers, staff members and senior cadets inappropriately used their positions to push their evangelical Christian beliefs on Air Force cadets.”
When rumors of this horrible atrocity began to surface, a major survey was taken throughout the Academy.
The survey found that more than half of the cadets said they had heard derogatory religious comments or jokes at the academy.
I am sure that derogatory comments weren’t made about christians as well. Actually, the program was designed to portray christians as mean spirited and incapable of normal human relations.
Maj. Gen. Charles C. Baldwin, the chief of chaplains for the entire Air Force, screened the R.S.V.P. program in October, Captain Morton said, and afterward asked her, “Why is it that the Christians never win?” in response to some of the program’s dramatizations of interactions between cadets of different religions.She said: “It was obvious to us that he had missed the point of the entire presentation here. It wasn’t about winning or losing, some kind of cosmic battle, it was about helping our folks at the Air Force Academy understand the wonders of the whole range of religious experiences.”
In an interview on Wednesday, General Baldwin acknowledged making that comment and said he had objected because too many scenes in the original program had portrayed Christians at fault for excessive efforts at evangelizing.
“In every scenario, where cadet met cadet in the hall,” he said, “every time it was the Christian who had to apologize and say, ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t sensitive to your needs.’ I said, that’s not balanced, and the Christians will turn you off if every time they were the ones who made the mistake.”
Americans United for Separation of Church and State has spearheaded a complaint against the Academy, and the Air Force has dispatched a committee to review the situation. They are apparently taking the complaint seriously as testimony begins this week.
This is nothing more than an attack upon religious people and not an attempt to find balance.
Sphere: Related ContentInteresting Prospect for 2008
May 12, 2005
According to NewsMax.com, Cong. Mike Pence–a Republican representing Indiana’s 6th District–is a potential candidate for President in 2008.
Pence is Chairman of the influential Republican Study Committee in only his second term in Congress. He is also an assistant Majority Whip. He’s risen very quickly in Congress to key positions of Republican leadership, and is well respected by his Republican peers in the house.
So why is his name surfacing? It could be for many reasons. Many in Indiana want Pence to seek statewide office like Governor or Senate. As a former statewide talk show host and having a congressional district which touches the Indianapolis media market, Pence is truly a statewide commodity there.
Rumors like this spread for many reasons. Many Republicans are fishing to find a person who will convey the conservative message clearly as moderate candidate hopefuls like John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are currently at the forefront of the nomination race.
With so few years in Congress, it is unlikely Pence could build a national following, but he is an interesting candidate for the future.
Sphere: Related ContentTop Anti-Pornography Activist to Meet with AG Gonzales
May 10, 2005
Phil Burress, President of the Ohio based Citizens for Community Values and one of the most successful anti-pornography activsts in the country will be meeting with U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to develop strategies to go after “White Collar Pornographers.”
“White collar pornographers” is the term Burress uses to describe corporations which profit through the distribution of hard core pornography. Included in the designation are satellite and cable companies such as DirecTV, Comcast and Time Warner as well as companies such as LodgeNet and On Command, which deliver pornographic movies to some of the nation’s largest hotels, including Marriott and Hilton, for resale through their pay-per-view services.
The distribution of pornography must be greatly curtailed in this country. It is a plague upon families where men who have serious addictions are disconnected to their family and much worse. If this meeting brings about effective action against the excesses of the pornography industry, our country will be greatly benefited.
Sphere: Related Content
