Save America Gun rights advocates rally for Second Amendment in Utah

 Round one of the gun control battle on Capitol Hill has been seemingly won by default by the protectors and supporters of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. This win for gun rights advocates became obvious to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) this week. He ordered Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to pull the so-called assault weapons provision from the bill. This bill had been passed by the Democrat controlled Judiciary Committee.

This comes on the heels of what appeared by many vote counters inside the Washington D.C. Beltway to be headed for total defeat. Even Reid’s own count reportedly indicated the most Democrat votes, that could be mustered to support the assault weapons ban was only 40. This is far less than the 60 votes President Obama needed to prevent a Republican filibuster of the bill. This is a victory for gun rights in the continuing congressional gun control battle

For the hysterical claims and attacks raised by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s in an attempt to strong arm national gun rights supporters with their bluster, it is a bitter defeat. This is also an important set back to the hysterical theatrics that the president displayed as he attempted to use his bully pulpit to force congress to submit to his will after the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Despite the facts that demonstrate the shooter Adam Lanza, was suffering from apparent severe mental illness issues, Obama resorted to scare tactics to pin the blame on gun rights. This is where he failed to exercise true presidential leadership. He clearly purposed his focused on fear mongering because it was what the liberal media hysteria machine wanted and craved. After all, who would be able to sustain the withering assaults from the main stream media, he had to reason.

But, Obama and the alphabet soup of media networks underestimated the commitment of gun rights and constitutional advocates who were unwilling to witness nor permit the undoing of those basic rights Americans who dear. When the president felt he was falling back on what he thought was an easy target, gun owners, gun owners and supporters instead locked arms and moved forward!

Even former astronaut Mark Kelly’s recent cheap trick to spur on support against gun owners did not prevail. He tried to resurrect the legitimate sincere sympathy Americans felt over the attack upon his wife, former congresswoman Gabby Giffords. She had survived a vicious attack in an armed assault against her which resulted in the tragic deaths of six victims in Tucson, Arizona in January 2011.

Kelly tried in vain, in March to dramatize that the legal buying of an AR-15 style weapon was somehow a national news story special bulletin about the evils of assault style weapons. It fell flat, because Kelly had purchased the gun legally and had gone through the proper legal guidelines to register the weapon. So where was the story and where was the news if everything he did was legal?

Guess what Kelly, there is no news, just because you and the mainstream media want to gin up hysteria. America does not need you to tell them what parts of their constitutional Second Amendment rights are legitimate and what are not. Get a clue Kelly, all of the rights are legitimate and not open to debate, discussion or compromise.

What does this abandonment of the assault weapons ban portent for the president? After all, in his February State of the Union remarks, he stressed how parents and families of the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School deserved a vote that included an assault weapons ban? Obama skipped away, clean out of the country on this one, and all the way to Israel.

It points to the very clear principle that Obama stands on, which is, his word has no honor and no value even for his supporters. He seeks the coward’s approach, which was to duck and hide overseas in Israel while his handlers take the hit from his support base. Not a surprise for a person who has been perpetrating a fraud on the American people on other issues since he took office in 2009.

In truth, Obama has no clear principles and his behavior in previous armed assaults by lunatic madmen with weapons proves as much. He game is to merely whisper sad condolences into the ear of victim survivors of tragedies, from purported deranged shooters like James Holmes in Aurora, Colorado, or Jared Lee Loughner in Tucson, Arizona or even from Major Nidal Hasan in the Fort Hood’s massacre.

The reality is that Obama does not seek true solutions to the gun violence which has taken a tragic toll on innocent American victims. He ducks and dodges the true solution which is to reform and tighten rules which govern a failing and severely crippled mental health care system. He would rather tap dance on the convenient stage provided by the liberal main stream media to attack, attack and attack again the sovereign rights of citizens and states. Obama wants to strip rights from the U.S. Constitution, not strengthen those very rights and protections.

So what of the crocodile tears that Obama apparently shed for the national media as he spoke that wintry night in Newtown in front of the family and friends who suffered a loss in the shooting? He assured them as he swiped tears from his eyes that he would commit the full weight of his presidential office to securing justice for them.

Of course he did not mean it. Even though the survivor’s tears were real, his tears were clearly manufactured, there and in his White House comments later. The bottom line, is that Obama did not see a pathway where he could further his political ambition to demoralize the conservatives and republicans by continuing to support an assault weapons ban that his own democrats in the senate did not back.

Now, the die is cast for Obama to try yet another avenue to assault the gun rights of Americans, but at least on this day, Obama and his fanatical gun control supporters have lost a fight to blow a hole in Americans’ constitutional gun rights protections.

( Let me know what you think )

…for many Bluegrass State Democrats, a potential Judd run brings a different feeling: heartburn.  “If she runs, I think that it would be a catastrophe for a lot of downballot races in Kentucky,” said Jimmy Cauley, a longtime Kentucky Democratic strategist who doesn’t believe Judd can win a general election. Among Democratic state legislators, he said, “there is significant worry about Ashley being on the ballot.”

Democrats plugged into the Frankfort, Ky., zeitgeist publicly and privately confirmed those sentiments. The crux of their worry is this: As a celebrity and strong supporter of President Barack Obama, Judd’s position at the top of the ticket could nationalize state and local races. They see her losing the Senate contest — an uphill climb for any Democrat — and potentially poisoning the conservative brand of some state Democrats.

For years, the Kentucky Democratic Party has racked up significant successes at the state and local level, from the governor’s mansion down the ballot. But in federal elections, Republicans have won victory after victory. In November, Obama lost the state, winning less than 38 percent of the vote.

However, Judd has one ally in Rep. John Yarmuth, who pitched her name last year, and has since been her “cheerleader,” according to Miller. He scolds his fellow party members for not having a better candidate in mind to challenge Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014.  However, Yarmuth’s support for Judd is creating some tension.

If John Yarmuth wants to be highest ranking Democrat in the state of Kentucky, he should keep pushing Ashley Judd,” Cauley said. “Because we will lose the Legislature and we will lose the governor’s office and he’ll be the only one left.”

Yarmuth called Cauley’s comments “outrageous” and untrue. “We’re not going to lose control of Frankfort,” the four-term lawmaker said.

So, let the Democratic infighting over Ashley Judd begin.  One thing is for sure, and that is Sen. McConell must be loving this spectacle.   His approval rating sits at a paltry 37% amongst Kentucky voters, and he’s the most unpopular senator currently serving in the U.S. Senate.  He would beat Ashley Judd 47%-43%, but that’s too close for comfort for an incumbent.

Originally posted on PJ Tatler.

Never mind, nothing happened this week, so we’ll just cap what happened last week.

Activity in the Senate

In Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Democrat Senate, despite being in session… well, nothing happened. No budget, no trivial bills… pretty much nothing. What kind of organization is Sen. Reid running? How much do we pay them?

Activity in the House

On October 26th two bills were introduced:

• H.R.6580 sponsored by Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) seeks to give those veterans with VA benefits access to the same vision and dental benefits that our other federal employees enjoy
• H.R.6579 sponsored by Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) seeks to prevent any person or business from claiming a tax deduction for any payments given to them due to the April 20, 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident

On October 23rd three more bills were introduced into the House:

•  H.R.3973 sponsored by Rep. Donald Young (R-AK) seeks to “facilitate the development of energy on Indian lands by reducing Federal regulations that impede tribal development of Indian lands, and for other purposes”
• H.R.6578 – Here’s a major concern for most Americans – I mean, this has to be just under the fiscal cliff in importance: To exempt decorative hearth products from energy efficiency regulation under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Sponsored by Rep. C. Rodgers (R-WA)
• H.R.6494 – seeks to award the Congressional Gold Medal (not the Medal of Honor) to Stewart Lee Udall.

That’s what Congress has achieved over the last two weeks. Impressed?

States to watch in 2014

• North Carolina went Republican for the 2012 Presidential election, 2012 Gubernatorial election and 2010 State House and Senate races which means a wave of conservatism may sweep the Tarheel state.
• West Virginia went for Mitt Romney in 2012, but Jay Rockefeller soundly won his seat in 2008
• Al Franken barely (by recount and questionable practices) took Minnesota 42-42%. Without the Obama coattails, a Presidential election year and straight-party voting, Franken may have had his last laugh
• Colorado was a 9 point race in 2008 between Mark Udall(D) and Bob Schaffer(R). Colorado could be a place to pick up a seat with the right ground game.
• Alaska was razor close in 2008 – this one should be takeable in a mid-term election
• Kentucky could be an issue. Mitch McConnell’s has an image issue with moderates as an obstructionist – his win wasn’t by a massive margin in 2008
• Louisiana was a close win for Dems in 2008 – LA went GOP in the presidential race and without Obama’s train blowing through – Landrieu could be beat

2014 Senate Seats in-play

WASHINGTON, September 13—Sen. Sessions joined Sens. John Thune, John McCain, and Kelly Ayotte today on the Senate floor today to discuss several items that the Senate’s Democrat majority has yet to address as Congress prepares to recess ahead of the November elections.

Among the outstanding items are: automatic sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect on January 2, any budget or appropriations bills, and the defense authorization bill.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said the chamber is unlikely to take up any individual spending bills this year (the House of Representatives has passed 7 so far), and this year will mark the first time in over 50 years that the Senate has failed to pass a defense authorization bill to lay out the spending and priorities of the Defense Department.

Meanwhile, it has been 1,233 days since the Senate’s Democrat majority has adopted any budget plan at all.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is often billed as the “Minnesota-nice” senator who makes great hot dish. She is soft spoken and is quick to flash an unassuming smile. It’s a great cover for a woman who pals around with communist revolutionaries, George Soros lackeys and union thugs who would like to destroy capitalism and the American way of life.

At a Labor Day weekend event hosted by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and headlined by 9/11 truther, self-described communist revolutionary and disgraced former White House advisor Van Jones, Sen Klobuchar spoke to a crowd of about 50-75 union members, campaign staffers and activists. She began her prepared remarks with a story of a Chicago women’s conference where she and 2,000 other women swooned for Van Jones.

Along with union powerhouse and president of Soros-backed Center for American Progress John Podesta, Jones and Klobuchar were speakers at an event called “Good Jobs, Green Jobs” in 2009. It’s unclear whether she was referring to this event as Klobuchar has appeared several times with Jones.

Van Jones has long been a 9/11 truther and signed a petition/statement blaming the Bush administration for the attacks. Jones is seen in this video (click link) at the 4:38 mark speaking at a rally on September 12, 2001 where speakers openly blame Americans for the 9/11 attacks. Jones claims, “We have something stronger than bombs; we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs.”

Jones has a rather lengthy history of radical behavior and hateful rhetoric as seen here: In His Own Words.
One of the more notable quotes is as follows:

“I’m willing to forgo the cheap satisfaction of the radical pose for the deep satisfaction of the radical ends.” – Van Jones

Klobuchar spoke to a reporter with the Associated Press recently where she spoke of the upcoming election.

“Reach out to independents and to Republicans. Find the common ground,” she said. “Because when the choice is so stark as it is in this election, you will find friends and supporters in places you never expected to find them.”

Senator Kloubuchar has obviously chosen to align with a radical 9/11 truther who seeks revolution to change the American way of life. Is that really who Minnesotans want representing them on Capitol Hill?

Klobuchar’s press secretary did not immediately return phone calls for comment.
**********************
See Van Jones bash republicans at the same event and claim that republicans would “let people drown on the beach.” View the video here: Van Jones Doubles Down

Between October 2010 and June 2011, the IRS received phony tax returns based on stolen Puerto Rican identities that would have led to the disbursement of $5.6 billion to alleged fraudsters, two of these people said. It is unclear how much money the IRS ultimately sent but one person familiar with the matter said an estimated $2 billion in checks was distributed.

Bronx mail carrier Robert Anthony Warren and at least two other USPS employees have been convicted and are doing prison time for their part in the scam. Back in September five men were also convicted of participating in the same scam and sentenced to between 40 and 98 months in prison, while also being ordered to pay a whopping $12 million in restitution. Good luck recovering any of that cash there. With all of these arrests and convictions, has the oh-so-competent federal government shut down this scam for good? Not quite, as can be seen in a statement from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office was among the first to investigate the group: (emphasis added)

“What we have uncovered may very well be the tip of the iceberg,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office was among the first to investigate the group. “It’s a massive fraud.”

With a federal government that is running up trillion dollar deficits faster than the Roadrunner rocketing past the outgunned Wiley E. Coyote in cartoon-land,  as the federal bureaucracy grows bigger by the minute….so increases these numbers of incidents that highlight their incompetence and dysfunctionality. In the meantime, Senate progressives are currently working tirelessly (yes.. sarcasm intended) to rig up a massive $42 billion-dollar-bailout of the USPS UNION pension fund under the guise of…. reform.  From the thieves that are scamming the taxpayers from the Dominican Republic through fraudulent tax refund checks, to today’s Senate Socialists giving their Democrat-supporting labor [USPS] Unions $42 billion tax dollars, America is being robbed blind on a daily basis, in more ways than one. Americans should keep this in mind as they head to the voting booth in November.

For a more detailed understanding of just why the taxpayer is being forced to bailout the USPS by Senate Progressives this week, check out The United States Postal Ponzi Scheme.

It is none other than the U.S. Government itself that has caused this most recent “crisis” that threatens to shut down the USPS. In the words of Mr. Donahoe, the Postmaster General himself back in the summer of 2011, we see glimpses of the big government intervention causing the collapse of what was once a proud, viable U.S. Mail delivery system:

“The Postal Service is in a crisis today because it operates within a restrictive business model and has limited flexibility to respond to a changing marketplace,” To which he added, “We need the ability to operate more as a business does. This applies to the way we provide products and services, allocate resources, configure our retail, delivery and mail processing networks and manage our workforce.” (emphasis added)

That info-byte above is the Postmaster General of the USPS himself, begging the wizards of Congress to allow him to reform the USPS system so that they would not have to be bailed out in 2012 by the taxpayers due to the impending insolvency. Congress basically said no, and refused to allow Mr. Donohue to enact the needed reforms. Enter S. 1789, which also has another progressive debt-loving fake Republican on the co-sponsor’s list, Sen. Scott Brown. (RINO-MA) While select politicians and D.A.M. media operatives will hail this USPS bailout bill as bi-partisan during the coming weeks, it in fact, only has the support of Progressive Senators who are lining up trying to score political points for the upcoming elections.

The description of S. 1789 claims that is it designed to sustain,improve, and transform the U.S, Postal System. What will the $41 billion borrowed tax dollars be used for? As Daniel Horowitz  informs the citizenry, “This time, taxpayers will be tapped for another $41 billion to subsidize the healthcare retirement benefits of postal workers – benefits that are quite scarce in the private sector.”  The Progressive Senators USPS Bailout Bill of 2012 will not in fact “reform” the USPS into a more business-like sustainable entity, as claimed, but once again kicks the insolvency can down the road and opens the door to never-ending taxpayer bailouts of the dysfunctional, unsustainable USPS, much like the Progressive thievery  of the past two decades known as the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “everyone deserves a house, regardless of ability to pay” programs that led to the housing and mortgage crisis. For a look into another reason for the USPS insolvency, check out the Liberal election-buying Union manipulation that is also behind this scheme, please see The USPS is Broke.

Call up your Senators this week, demand that they say no to the Progressive USPS Bailout Bill of 2012, (S.1789) and let every single one of them know you will be paying close attention to their votes on it.

Any discussion of Republican electoral success in 2012 has to include a major discussion of retaking the U.S. Senate. Without the Senate, it doesn’t matter if we get “Anybody But Obama” into the White House.

We currently have 47 seats in the Senate, and Democrats have 53.

Here is the breakdown of the Senate seats which will be contested in 2012 (via Wikipedia):

Democrats/Independents retiring:

The Indy-Mac fraud was in fact a test-run and model to use for the takeover of U.S. Banks and effect a major shift of financial power to assorted leftists like George Soros and crony-capitalists like Dell and Paulson. And they use the Dodd-Frank supposed financial reform bill, in conjunction with a politically injected CFPB ( Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) appointed “Czar” to complete the tri-fecta of taking over banks, turning them over to the likes of George Soros and assorted crony-capitalists, and then sticking the taxpayers with the losses from these same banks through depleting the FDIC fund, which is now about bankrupt.

Enter the latest unconstitutional recess appointment and “Money Czar” Richard Cordray. While President Obama was campaigning on the taxpayer’s dime once again in Ohio, he announced this latest violation of the U.S. Constitution with a load of misinformation, the likes of which Mr. Josef Goebbels would surely be proud of: “Today, I’m appointing Richard as America’s consumer watchdog,” Obama told the crowd. “That means he’ll be in charge of one thing: looking out for the best interest of American consumers. His job will be to protect families like yours from the abuses of the financial industry. His job will be to make sure you’ve got all the information you need to make important financial decisions.”

“Looking out for the best interest” of whom Mr. President? George Soros? Michael Dell? Is that what we are supposed to believe is the “Middle Class” you are “protecting” with this sham? How about when it was recently announced that the bank of America was going to charge debit card fees and the so-called financial reform bill permitted it? Sure they stopped it simply because customers started leaving the bank in droves over it, but it was legal under your new law. What Obama does not want the citizenry to understand is the fact that Richard Cordray will now have unfettered access to the taxpayer’s bank account without any input from Congress. Zero. Nada.

In the article Cordray Can Wait from Investors.com, accessed Jan. 05, 2012, we see the following: (emphasis added)

As Ohio’s attorney general, Cordray’s main focus was making Wall Street pay for the financial crisis. He sued BofA, AIG, Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and other Wall Street firms on behalf of public-employee pensions. His shakedown netted trial lawyers and the unions they represent for more than $1 billion in settlements and fees.

Most concerning, this wannabe federal bank sheriff is in the back pocket of trial lawyers. The law firm that represented Ohio in the AIG case pumped $125,000 into Cordray’s campaigns. Other firms donated $200,000 to Cordray, who plans to run for Ohio governor one day. The new bureau will spawn more work for trial lawyers as it investigates banks for loosely defined “abusive” practices, including loan price “discrimination.”.

This recess appointment will fund the DNC through crony-trial lawyers for decades to come as was also documented here. Last but not least, from Investors.com we see this tidbit: (emphasis added)

As Democrats set up the CFPB, the director enjoys unprecedented power, reporting only to the president. The agency is housed in the Federal Reserve and funded outside the annual appropriations process (with a startup budget of half a billion dollars). In effect, it’s not accountable to Congress or the American public.
The Senate GOP threatens to filibuster Cordray’s final confirmation vote unless the agency adds a bipartisan panel to check its director. They don’t want to give another activist appointee blank-check authority to go after banks and provide even more grist for class-action lawyers. Someone’s got to stop the shakedown.

More race-based grift for class-action, DNC-donor trial lawyers? Do you mean like this example here: In that info-byte we see that bank of America will dole out $335 million dollars to “Black and Hispanic” borrowers because they were supposedly charged more for home loans. Apparently it doesn’t matter if these “victims” of unfair lending practices were very high-risk borrowers with no proven ability to pay when Democrats and Progressives forced banks to make sure “everyone gets a home regardless of ability to pay” mandates that caused the housing crisis in the first place. NOTE: With Blacks and Hispanics making up a small portion of the U.S. Population, isn’t it strange that white people are not included in these reparations, I mean settlement? How about Asians? Back to Investors.com for some more truth about Cordray being illegally injected into our government and his agenda:(emphasis added)

The new bureau will spawn more work for trial lawyers as it investigates banks for loosely defined “abusive” practices, including loan price “discrimination. Heading its Office of Fair Lending is Patrice Ficklin, a a black civil-rights lawyers who headed Fannie Mae’s racial grievance unit. She leads a team using new race-based lending data to crack down on banks that apply prudent lending standards equally to minorities.

Richard Cordray and Patrice Ficklin will now be able to dip into the wallets of the American taxpayers, pay trial lawyers that donate to the DNC millions of taxpayer dollars, and further redistribute those stolen tax dollars to DNC voters of their choice without any oversight from Congress. Nothing to see here folks, just move along.

Senators that are retiring

• Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
• Kay Bailey Hitchison (R-TX)
• Joe Lieberman (I-CT)
• Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
• Ben Nelson (D-NE)
• Jeff Bingaman (D-NM)
• Kent Conrad (D-ND)
• Jim Webb (D-VA)
• Herb Kohl (D-WI)

Senators Up for Re-Election

• Richard Lugar (R-IN)
• Olympia Snowe (R-MN)
• Scott Brown (R-Mass)
• Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi)
• Dean Heller (R-NV)
• Bob Corker (R-TN)
• Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
• John Barrasso (R-WY)
• Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
• Tom Carper (D-DE)
• Bill Nelson (D-FL)
• Ben Cardin (D-MD)
• Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
• Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
• Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri)
• Jon Tester (D-MT)
• Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
• Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
• Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
• Bob Casey, Jr. (D-PA)
• Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
• Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
• Maria Cantwell (D-WA)
• Joe Manchin (D-WV)

“This massive 1,200-plus page bill represents everything that is wrong with Washington. Our country faces major economic challenges, but Congress wasted the whole year stuck in partisan gridlock only to pass a funding bill that solves none of our problems, just to avoid a government shutdown. This plan spends too much, wastes precious taxpayer dollars to fund a menu of job-killing regulations, anti-life provisions and earmarks, and has been ushered through Congress in a highly secretive and non-transparent manner that didn’t allow for consideration of even a single amendment. I cannot support it.”

In the following Marco Rubio constituent mailbox video we see just how fed up Americans truly are with the current state of DC and the big government debt-spending that continues unabated.

Almost all House Republican measures to reign in spending that were included in H.R. 2055 as it passed through the House were somehow craved out by the Senate. The Senate did leave the Republican light bulb ban stoppage measure in the final bill. Senator Jim DeMint came out with a scathing letter about just what has transipred in the U.S. senate once again, titled, A Shameful End to the Year.In it we see the following truths exposed:

The hard choice Democrats have given Republicans has paid off for the big-spenders again.

Refusing to work together to cut spending, Democrats demanded that Republicans compromise with them to increase spending, or shut down the government.

As a result, Congress rammed through a 1,000-page, trillion-dollar omnibus spending bill that lumped 9 different appropriations bills in a single package at the very last minute rather than debating, amending, and voting on these bills in a transparent manner.

As was reported here, this last-minute spending spree to supposedly avoid a government shut-down is beng done by design by Senate Democrats, and Senator Jim DeMint appears to agree with that assessment:

It’s become a cynical yearly tradition in Washington to delay the big-spending votes until just before Christmas. After all, it’s how Democrats in the Senate passed ObamaCare. Members of Congress are now hurrying home after the vote without much talk, but it should not be forgotten. It represents a shameful end to a year that began with many bold assurances.

Conservatives must win a majority in the U.S. Senate in the 2012 elections if we are ever to reverse the course of big government debt-spending that threatens to throw America off of the debt-cliff she is standing on the edge of. It is blatantly obvious that Democrats refuse to curb their debt-spending addiction, to the detriment of our great nation.

Obama creates debt commission, then ignores their solutions

A grifter is defined by urbandictionary.com as a: someone who swindles you through deception or fraud, and b: a grifter is an expert in illicit acquisition of goods or services through various methods of over confident flim-flammery and fast talking. Apparently several members of Congress today fit both definitions of the term grifter, as outlined above. Senator John McCain took to the floor of the United States Senate today to call out the unauthorized spending, waste, and pay-for-play disservice to the American taxpayer that was slid into the current 2012 defense spending bill. This is where the term Big Government Grifter comes into play.

The Maverick Really Gets Fired Up! Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was livid about the wasteful spending he discovered that was tucked into the defense spending bill, and repeatedly slammed his fist down on the podium in an expression of utter disgust as he gave his floor speech today. The text of the entire speech is available here, and the following are just a few examples of exactly what was also mentioned in this article on the current omnibus spending bill also being rammed through Congress this week:

Mr. President, I come to the floor today to discuss the Fiscal Year 2012 Omnibus Appropriations bill that the House just passed this afternoon and the Senate will vote on tomorrow. Once again, the Senate is faced with a thousand-plus page behemoth of an appropriations bill and very little in the way of authorizations to support it. So here we are, at the end of another calendar year, cramming what should be months of actual debate and legislating into hours of reckless appropriating.

As was detailed in this CDN article, this points to a pattern of being done by design to avoid any forms of Congressional accountability and transparency. In a statement that backs that theory up, Senator McCain called upon Senator Coburn today to bring to light the fact that Congress is currently severely cutting funding to the Government Accountability Office in 2012. The GAO is the non-partisan watchdog that helps the government weed out waste and fraud to protect the taxpayers. The current planned cuts for the 2012 budget will result in a total of 400 less employees at the GAO.

Here are some bullet points from Mr. McCain’s Senate floor speech today:

So let’s compare last years omnibus debacle to this years:

• “Last year – 1,924 pages. This year – 1,221 pages.
• “Last year – all 12 annual appropriations bills. This year – nine of the annual appropriations bills.
• “Last year – over $1.1 trillion in spending. This year – over $915 billion in spending or $1.043 trillion if you include the three bills we’ve already passed. That works out to be a reduction of 5% from last year to this year. Taxpayers get a better deal at a Macy’s Christmas sale.
• “Last year – 6,488 earmarks totaling nearly $8.3 billion. This year – no traditional “earmarks” but over $3.5 billion in unauthorized spending in DoD alone.
“So should we consider this progress? Are we doing anything differently? The national debt is now at the record level of over $15 trillion, which is more than $48,000 per citizen, yet we have failed to make any significant, meaningful spending cuts and we continue with business as usual.

Senator McCain went on to outline how the whole appropriations process is fundamentally flawed today. “We have a fundamental problem in the Senate, Mr. President, of being unable to engage in the process of authorizing prior to regular appropriations. And what is the outcome? A handful of appropriators and unelected staffs disburse hundreds of billions of dollars, often in a manner that directly contravenes the will of the authorizers. Consequently, at the 11th hour of the process, we ram through an omnibus measure so that we can get out of town for the holidays. It’s disgraceful Mr. President.”

Mr. McCain goes on to show us how unauthorized spending has been injected into the defense spending bill through this rushed-through omnibus bill they are now being forced to pass.
This omnibus contains a number of objectionable provisions: (shortened versions)

Guam is getting earmarks of $33 million U.S. taxpayer dollars for 53 civilian school buses,and a cultural artifacts depository. (museum) Sen. McCain added, “I can only say that the many citizens of Arizona who are out of work, whose homes have been lost due to the economic downturn, who would benefit from any sort of action by the Federal Government to create jobs and ease their burdens, feel nothing but outrage when they see this kind of blatant waste and abuse of the political system that has gone on for years and years and years. But that’s not the end of this sad story. Within this initial funding grant to Guam of $33 million is $9.6 million for the first phase of a mental health facility that advocates claim is somehow related to the proposed military buildup on Guam. I’m still trying to sort this argument out, but I have that odd feeling that to do so I must go down the rabbit hole to Alice in Wonderland.

And Senator McCain was just getting wound up in the first 10 minutes of today’s floor speech, to which he added about the Guam mental health facility to be built with U.S. Taxpayer dollars: “And, of course, this $9.6 million dollars of pork in the FY12 Defense Appropriations bill is only the down payment, the ‘nose of the camel under the tent’ you might say, because to complete the facility as required to satisfy the already existing federal injunction against Guam, another $33 million will be required next year in 2013 to finish out the project as well as building a new public health laboratory. Wonderful!”
Senator McCain went on to mention the Tea Party and how fed-up Americans are with these kinds of Big Government Grifters that are doing this kind of wasteful, reckless spending:

The American people have seen this kind of abuse and waste for far too often, and they have had enough of it. They are convinced Congress never learns. And by this example, it’s hard to say they are wrong. In fact, this sort of complete waste and abuse of the taxpayers’ money proves they are exactly right.”

To which he added: “If you don’t understand the rise of the Tea Party, you can start by looking right here.”

The second half of Senator McCain’s Senate floor speech was just as informative as the first half as he laid out such things as other provisions. “The Defense portion of the Omnibus contains some $3.5 billion in unrequested, unauthorized spending for items that are not core, high-priority Defense requirements. As you will see, Mr. President, many old favorites appear on the list.” Again, I urge all concerned citizens to check the complete list of waste, fraud, and taxpayer abuse found in the latest omnibus bill, brought to you by the Big Government Grifters of Congress, and outlined on Senator McCain’s website.

Footnote: How ironic is this fact? Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) Is on the House floor giving a speech right now, saying how wonderful the tireless staff on the House Appropriations Committee have been while working on this omnibus bill. Mr. Rogers is the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Maybe he should give Senator John McCain a call and have a discussion about just how wonderful this pork-laden, fraud-upon-the-taxpayers omnibus truly is for the U.S. Taxpayer.

Greece here we come

Once again, DC lawmakers painted themselves into a corner and had to scramble to avoid a government shutdown at the very last minute by reaching another “deal” to fund a major part of the United States government in 2012. Just what grand bargain have the wizards of DC struck this time? Once again the details are scarce, and it looks like we the people will just have to wait a few weeks to actually find out how the government plans on spending the people’s hard-earned tax revenues in 2012. The pattern of these last minute deals in Congress regarding spending bills of the last three-plus years is a pretty neat trick. It allows lawmakers to avoid any accountability or transparency as to how they are spending the people’s money, and this appears to be done by design. When ex-Speaker Nancy Pelosi said we will have to pass the bills to see what’s in them, maybe folks should have made a bigger effort to denounce those kinds of oppressive policies and obviously-manipulated lack of transparency right then and there.

Just What Do We Actually Know So Far About This Latest Grand Bargain?

The big bundle of appropriations agreed upon on Dec 15, 2011 which is also know as an omnibus bill,( which Congress constantly tells us they will no longer resort to using in passing spending bills) will fund the government for the rest of fiscal year 2012. Total spending in this omnibus bill has been reported at anywhere from 900 billion to 1.1 trillion dollars. As of right now, when this bill lands on President Obama’s desk for his signature, it’s anyone’s guess as to the true costs hidden in it. The Senate Appropriations Committee’s website was last updated on Dec. 8th, proving once again, that the citizenry will just have to wait until after the president signs the bill before they can see what’s in it. How much is that website costing we the people for that laughable example of transparency?

In a much-ballyhooed bunch of irresponsible reporting so far, about all we know about this omnibus bill is that the demands for reapplying stricter travel restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba was taken out. Big whoopee-do there. Of course the earmarks, graft, crony-capitalism and outright tax dollar theft hidden in this omnibus bill will eventually come out, but by then it will be too late for we the people to call up our representatives and express our concerns about this latest example of buffoonery perpetuated by the wizards of Congress. That’s it. Over a trillion dollars of taxpayer funding has been authorized by the United States Congress and we the people have not been told a thing about how it will be spent.

2012 just can’t get here fast enough. Then again, maybe 2012 will just bring about the continuation of the irresponsible debt-spending that will lead America over the edge of the Greek-style debt-cliff she is standing on today. After watching this latest episode in “As the Congressional dog and pony show turns.” it certainly looks that way.