Former U.S. Astronaut, Senator John Glenn Dead at 95

John Glenn, whose 1962 flight as the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the Earth made him an all-American hero and propelled him to a long career in the U.S. Senate, died Thursday. The last survivor of the original Mercury 7 astronauts was 95.

Read more at Newsman

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TSA hearing interrupted by bomb threat

A Senate hearing about the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) recent failure to identify prohibited weapons in security tests at airports across the country was interrupted on Tuesday by a bomb threat. Lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security Committee were getting their first chance to question officials about the findings of the TSA report, documented a series of undercover sting operations in which agents tried to pass through security with prohibited items; much of its findings remain classified. The panel’s chairman interrupted testimony to announce the floor of the Senate Dirksen Office Building where the TSA hearing was being held in was being evacuated. Read more at The Hill Read More......

ENTIRE US SENATE Votes 100-0 to Reimpose Sanctions on Iran if Caught Cheating on any Nuclear Agreement

Last Thursday, the US Senate voted 100-0 on Senator Kirk’s amendment to reimpose sanctions on the Iranians if they get caught cheating on a deal. The nonbinding language is grounded in a section on violations written into the Kirk-Menendez legislation, which more broadly increases pressure on Iran if they fail to sign on to a deal that puts their atomic program beyond use for weaponization. The effect of the vote was to put the entire Senate on record supporting the principles of Kirk-Menendez.

Read more at Gateway Pundit Read More......

Fa La La La Law to Protect Our Troops

(Hat tip: Jane Newton) - Long before "Duck Dynasty," other camouflaged Americans were being persecuted for their beliefs: U.S. service members. Now, thanks to Congress, our brave men and women will finally have the legislative armor they need. It took until almost midnight, but when the Senate passed the Defense Authorization bill, it was worth the wait. After a year-long struggle against the forces of political correctness, leaders stood together in defense of our troops' right to speak and act openly on their faith.

With overwhelming bipartisan support (84-15), the Senate approved the legislation with Sen. Mike Lee's (R-Utah) military conscience language -- handing FRC and its supporters one of the biggest victories yet in the battle for religious liberty. Under the bill (which still awaits the President's signature), Congress moves the current law from protecting religious beliefs to also protecting the expressions of those beliefs. For service members who've become increasingly afraid to even share their faith, this language is a game-changer. It frees our troops from the fear of retaliation, which so many have experienced under this administration.

Read more at Family Research Center… Read More......

URGENT Obamacare Update – ACTION NEEDED NOW!

Over one million, six-hundred thousand Americans have signed the online DO NOT FUND OBAMACARE petition. Last week the House voted to fund the government, but NOT Obamacare, which is what We the People asked them to do.

Now Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and John Cornyn (R-TX) – the top two Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate have announced they will support “cloture” on the total government funding. This means the government funding bill which INCLUDES funding Obamacare can be passed with only 50 votes. These men who took an oath to uphold the Constitution are turning their backs on the wishes of the American people, their fellow partisan senators and siding with Obamacare. ✧ Call them now and tell them to represent The People, not Washington politicians.

Mitch McConnell - 202-224-2541
John Cornyn - 202-224-2934

Please go to THIS LINK for a list of senators to call and a script to print off so you can add your voice to this swelling cry! Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see who has pledged to not fund Obamacare!

(Hat tip: J.A. Hetterle) Read More......

NRO: Congress’s Exemption from Obamacare

By John Fund
Make Congress get insurance the same way the little people do? Hill denizens howl in fury. Prostitution. Bribery. Blackmail. Thuggery. Hypocrisy. ✧ Those were just some of the incendiary words thrown around the U.S. Senate last week, and that doesn’t count what people said in private. ✧ The Senate may still have a reputation as a genteel club, but lawmakers seemed to abandon rules of decorum completely last week in arguments about whether Congress should be treated like the rest of the country when it comes to Obamacare. Read more at National Review Online...

Political malpractice! --bc Read More......

WP: Where Congress stands on Syria

Lawmakers appear to be tentatively dividing into four camps over military action in Syria; 1) AGAINST Military Action, 2) LEANING NO, 3) UNDECIDED and, 4) FOR Military Action. The Washington Post is tracking House and Senate members positions. Read more at the Washington Post...

As of Sept. 12th:

• Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR First District): Leaning NO
  
• Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR Second District): AGAINST - “Absent a direct threat to the United States or our allies and a clear goal and definition of victory, I must oppose using military force in Syria.”
  
• Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR Third District): UNDECIDED
  
• Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR Fourth District): AGAINST - “This situation is incredibly fluid, but I currently do not support an open-ended, ill-defined intervention in another civil war.”
  
• Rep. Curt Schrader (D-OR Fifth District): AGAINST - “...direct U.S. military involvement at this time is one of the worst of many bad options.”
  
• Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR): UNDECIDED
  
• Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR): UNDECIDED

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Senate votes to kill Obamacare medical device tax

The Senate on Thursday voted to repeal a sales tax on medical devices that is part of President Obama’s health-care law, a rare bipartisan attempt to strip away a section of the controversial reforms. ✧ Sens. Orrin Hatch, Utah Republican, and Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat, led the amendment, which passed on a 79-20 vote during debate over the chamber’s budget plan for the coming fiscal year. Read more at the Washington Times... Read More......

Senate Votes to Stop US From Joining UN Arms Trade Treaty

Patriot Update - In the last batch of amendment votes to the budget, the Senate voted on several foreign policy proposals. ✧ Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced an amendment that would prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty in order to uphold the Second Amendment. His amendment passed on a 53-46 vote. ✧ Republicans have been critical of President Obama’s decision to consider the treaty, although Obama has said he would not vote for anything that would violate the Second Amendment. ✧ The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty would regulate international arms sales. Negotiations end on March 28.

Note: Oregon's U.S. Senators, Merkeley and Wyden, voted against the amendment. Read More......

Concerns About Sovereignty Lead Senate Conservatives to Nix U.N. Treaty on Disabled

(12-5-2012, CNSNews.com) – Conservative groups welcomed the U.S. Senate’s failure on Tuesday to ratify a United Nations disabilities treaty, which they view as an infringement of U.S. sovereignty. But Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a leading proponent, called it “one of the saddest days I’ve seen in almost 28 years in the Senate.” ✧ The Senate voted 61-38 in favor of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), falling five votes short of the required two-thirds majority. ✧ Eight Republicans voted with Democrats for the measure. No Democrats voted against it.

Republicans who voted with the Democrats in favor were Sens. Kelly Ayotte (N.H.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Scott Brown (Mass.), Susan Collins (Maine), Dick Lugar (Ind.), John McCain (Ariz.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Olympia Snowe (Maine). ✧ Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) did not vote. Read more at CNSNews... Read More......

Senate passes insider-trading bill

Aiming to restore voters' faith in Congress, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Thursday that makes clear it's illegal for members of Congress, their staffs and many executive-branch employees to trade stocks and other securities based on inside information learned on the job. Read more at CNN... Read More......

Freedom Line BLOG: 2012 the Year of the Senate?

CFIF FREEDOM LINE, 4/9/2011 by Ashton Ellis: The (British) Guardian promotes an interesting theory about the 2012 electoral cycle: maybe Republicans should focus more on winning the Senate than the presidency. Here’s the rationale:

And here’s more potential bad news: in 2014, another 20 Senate Democrats are up for re-election, compared to just 14 Republicans. That means over two successive election cycles, 43 Democrats – 80% of those currently in office – must defend their Senate seats, compared to just 24 Republicans. Could the GOP end up with a 60-vote super-majority of its own, just two years before laying siege to the White House in a post Obama contest? Read more at Freedom Line...

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Senate votes on DREAM Act and DADT Repeal today

Preliminary votes today on the DREAM Act will probably fail but the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT) is expected to pass. We'll see later today.

RESULTS:
'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' PASSES - The final vote to end the Pentagon's 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" policy was 65-31, drawing support from eight Republicans. [Snip] The eight Republicans who joined Democrats in passing the repeal were: Sens. Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mark Kirk of Illinois, George Voinovich of Ohio, Richard Burr of North Carolina, John Ensign of Nevada and Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine. [President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law next week.] Read more at Fox News...

DREAM Act FAILS - Democrats couldn't muster the 60 votes required to overcome a Republican filibuster on the Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act, which the House of Representatives passed earlier this month. ∴ The Senate's 55-41 vote broke mostly along party lines, though three Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Robert Bennett of Utah and Richard Lugar of Indiana — voted with the Democrats. ∴ Five Democratic senators — Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Jon Tester and Max Bacus of Montana — sided with Republicans. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced his opposition to the bill but missed the vote. Read more at the Idaho Statesman... Read More......

Senate votes on DREAM Act and DADT Repeal today

Preliminary votes today on the DREAM Act will probably fail but the repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' (DADT) is expected to pass. We'll see later today. Read More......

Senate Bill S 510 is scary!

Senate Bill S510 Makes it illegal to Grow, Share, Trade or Sell Homegrown Food... and worse, the bill threatens U.S. sovereignty!

S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money.

[Passed by Senate on Nov. 30] “If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.” ~Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower (Read more at infowars.com)

UPDATE: Both of Oregon's Senators voted "Yea"! See who voted for and against S 510 here. Read More......

ALERT: S-510 Food Takeover Act, S-787 Water Takeover Act

FREE REPUBLIC (Hat tip: Linda Weimer) - "Congress will convene November 15 to try to force into law all the things they didn't get done during the regular session. No one knows for sure just which bills will be on Nancy and Harry's agenda. It's Harry's agenda that is most important because the Senate - with 60 votes required to stop debate - offers the best opportunity to stop a bill.

S-510 - Food Safety Modernization Act - is one of the bills that must be stopped. Doreen Hannes has been following this bill for several organizations during its entire existence. Here's some of her reasons why the bill must be stopped. Doreen says:

"In a nutshell, S510 is effectively NAIS (National Animal Identification System) for everything. It is a tremendous amount of additional enforcement (fines and penalties, license revocations, further license requirements, control over processes and harvest) which are definite issues with the bill as it currently exists. However, not unlike the "Health Care" bill, they will have to pass this to see what it actually does.

"Here's why....In S 510, the FDA is instructed to follow all international agreements. One of the issues with international 'guidelines and standards' is "Good Agricultural Practices". Well those are not necessarily good. Most GAP certifying bodies have checklists about 25 pages long for growers to follow. They all require traceability (i.e., NAIS) they also require auditing, verifying and certifying the processes used to produce a consumable product for human or animal feed. Every step in GAP costs the grower of food money and a good deal of paperwork. What happens if you're better at growing food than filing forms? You will be penalized (i.e., more money). Sec 420 is exceptionally dangerous in my eyes. It subjects all farms that 'produce' milk to risk assessment and management (i.e., insurance).

"The idea that exemptions will be helpful is rose-colored-glasses thinking. Exemptions can easily be taken away or modified without Congressional oversight through the regulatory process. Most farmers aren't watching the Federal Register like hawks.

"The FDA has plenty of authority to protect the anonymous food supply already. But they don't. Instead, they put small entities out of business through Hazard Analasis & Critical Control Points (HACCP), also to be expanded in this bill, and heavier regulations that are not helpful to smaller economies of scale. The FDA inspects less than 1% of imported produce, has performed inspections on less than 25% of processing failties[sic] [facilities] that they are authorized to inspect (in a five year period) and they ALREADY have authority over live food animals on the farm. The USDA authority is over animal disease."

S-787 - Clean Water Restoration Act - will give the federal government jurisdiction over all water, everywhere, as well as jurisdiction over all activity that affects water wherever it may be. This would give to the federal government effective control over every square inch of land in the United States. It too, must be stopped. (see video 3:30)"

Please register your concerns with your senators:

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D) - DC (202) 224-3753, Salem (503) 362-8102
Sen. Ron Wyden (D) - DC (202) 224-5244, Salem (503) 589-4555

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SurveyUSA: Wyden leads Huffman, Dudley leads Kitzhaber

OREGONLIVE.COM/BLOG, 6/11/2010 by Jeff Mapes (Hat tip: Linda Weimer) - Another poll shows Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., with a large - but not unassailable - lead in his reelection race. ∴ SurveyUSA, in the same poll that showed Republican Chris Dudley leading the Oregon race for governor, found that Wyden was ahead of Republican Jim Huffman by 13 percentage points. Read more on our Campaign page... Read More......

Parental Rights at Risk

ONE NEWS NOW/CULTURE, 6/5/2010 by Charlie Butts - Gov't = caretaker, parent = babysitter: The Senate is expected to take up the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. ∴ The effort is a dangerous treaty for the family, according to pediatrician Rosemary Stein of Burlington, North Carolina, and a spokesperson for the Christian Medical Association (CMA). ∴ "It takes away the parents' rights to rear their child and gives it to the government," she explains. "The government becomes the caretaker and the guardian, and the parent becomes the babysitter. Another way to define it would be 'the government takeover of our children.'" Read more at OneNewsNow... Read More......

Jim Huffman to announce campaign for US Senate

THE OREGON POLITICO, 2/25/2010 by Sarah Ross - PORTLAND- Lewis and Clark Law Professor, Jim Huffman, has scheduled his announcement to run for Ron Wyden’s US Senate seat for Thursday, March 4th. ∴ Huffman has been rumored for weeks to be the GOP’s choice candidate to run against Wyden in this coming November’s senatorial election. A facebook event created by the Huffman for US Senate campaign confirms that the professor will be challenging Oregon’s Senior Senator. Read more at The Oregon Politico Read More......

Sen. Jim DeMint takes on Sen. Jeff Merkley over HC bill provision

CNSNews.com, 1/5/2010 - Senate Health-Care Bill Provision Would Make it Impossible for Future Congresses to Repeal Parts of Bill: A provision deep within the Senate’s 2,000-page health-care overhaul bill would make it impossible, once approved, for the legislation to be repealed or changed by future Congresses -- a provision that a Senate Republican and a conservative analyst say is unconstitutional.

On page 1,020, the bill states: “It shall not be in order in the Senate or the House of Representatives to consider any bill, resolution, amendment or conference report that would repeal or otherwise change this subsection.”

The provision appears in Section 3403 of the Senate bill, which creates an Independent Medicare Advisory Board (IMAB). The objective of the board would be to “reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending,” which has ballooned in recent decades. The IMAB would recommend changes to the Medicare program to limit its spending growth -- recommendations that would automatically go into effect unless Congress votes to block them. Read more for the DeMint (R-SC)-Merkley (D-OR) exchange...

Notes: 1) IMAB is what Sarah Palin referred to as "Death Panels." Kudos to Sen. DeMint. 2) Sen. Merkley will hold a town hall meeting on Jan. 15. Please see Events Calendar --bc Read More......