Clipmarks | boniface's 'congress' clips

Martial Law Would Be Declared If Bailout Not Passed In House

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:34:58 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: As former California congressman Dan Hamburg said earlier this year, the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act gives the executive the power to invoke martial law in case of “major public emergencies,” not limited to “a natural disaster, a disease outbreak, a terrorist attack,” but also “any other condition in which the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to the extent that state officials cannot maintain public order.” Obviously, a financial crash and ensuing social chaos of the sort now being implemented by the ruling elite would be characterized as a dire emergency and a near perfect excuse to impose martial law, a long standing goal of the elite. As the Army Times reported last month, a battle-hardened “homeland” brigade is now “going domestic” after spending time in Iraq. It appears this illegal deployment (under Posse Comitatus) is designed to respond to “public disorder” as the economy is deliberately and cynically dismantled at the behest of our rulers.

Clip Source: blog.puppetgov.com

[Video]

In House debate on the banker “rescue” bill, Rep. Brad Sherman told his fellow Congress critters the government will declare martial law and the stock market will drop 3,000 points if the bill is not passed. “The panic-mongers were to the point of telling people the market would drop 3,000 points and there would be martial law,” said Sherman.

Sherman’s comment was not in the same context as a comment issued by Rep. Michael Burgess earlier in the week. Burgess, who appeared on the Alex Jones Show, said Pelosi threatened to invoke House rule XIII(6)(a), described as “martial law,” intended to suspend normal procedures and safeguards and thus allowing the House leadership to operate in a more authoritarian fashion.

The bailout plan is not only “economic fascism,” as Richard Viguerie has correctly noted, designed to loot the U.S. Treasury and reorganize and further consolidate elite control over the economy, but it is also a brazen effort to impose a martial law and dictatorship

[Video]

Tags: politics, dictatorship, fascism

Economists' great concern for the plan proposed by Paulson

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:45:30 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: faculty.chicagogsb.edu

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:

As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis. We are well aware of the difficulty of the current financial situation and we agree with the need for bold action to ensure that the financial system continues to function. We see three fatal pitfalls in the currently proposed plan:

1) Its fairness

2) Its ambiguity.

3) Its long-term effects.

For these reasons we ask Congress not to rush, to hold appropriate hearings, and to carefully consider the right course of action, and to wisely determine the future of the financial industry and the U.S. economy for years to come.

Stop Paulson's Plunder

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:25:55 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.democrats.com

George Bush wants taxpayers to give Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson a $700 billion blank check - $2,333 for every man, woman, and child - to bail out Wall Street for its reckless speculation and greed. That's on top of $1.1 trillion for Bush's other recent bailouts, including A.I.G., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Bear Stearns.

The Paulson Plan is a total outrage with no restrictions, no accountability, and no repair of the underlying problem of foreclosures on fraudulent mortgages. Each of Bush's previous bailouts was sold as a cure for the financial crisis, but each had little effect. The Paulson Plan achieves only one goal with certainty: stealing from the middle class to protect the rich.

Congress must reject Paulson's Plunder and enact a plan with these progressive principles from the Backbone Campaign:

The people who caused the problem or profited most should pay for it

Re-regulate to prevent this from happening again

Judge Rules White House Aides Can Be Subpoenaed

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:31:37 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

President Bush’s top advisers cannot ignore subpoenas issued by Congress, a federal judge ruled on Thursday in a case that involves the firings of several United States attorneys but has much wider constitutional implications for all three branches of government.

“The executive’s current claim of absolute immunity from compelled Congressional process for senior presidential aides is without any support in the case law,” Judge John D. Bates ruled in United States District Court here.

It was the latest setback for the Bush administration, which maintains that current and former White House aides are immune from congressional subpoena.

“Today’s landmark ruling is a ringing reaffirmation of the fundamental principle of checks and balances and the basic American idea that no person is above the law,” said Representative John D. Conyers, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Wexler to House Judiciary re: impeachment

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:40:34 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "Our government was founded by a delicate balance of powers, whereby one branch carefully checks the other branches to prevent a dangerous consolidation of power. The actions of this White House have eviscerated this careful balance. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue; this is an American issue."

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

REP. ROBERT WEXLER: Never before in the history of this nation has an administration so successfully diminished the constitutional powers of the legislative branch

This is not how our founders so carefully and delicately designed our democracy.

failure of administration witnesses to even appear is unprecedented in the history of our nation

Our government was founded by a delicate balance of powers, whereby one branch carefully checks the other branches to prevent a dangerous consolidation of power. The actions of this White House have eviscerated this careful balance. This is not a Democratic or Republican issue; this is an American issue. Without these checks and balances, a president can run roughshod over any law with impunity. Congress must end this disturbing pattern of behavior. And in these circumstances, unfortunately, the only option left is impeachment hearings.

Tags: impeachment

Elizabeth Holtzman to House Judiciary re: Impeachment

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:33:48 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "You may not be able to finish the task, but you certainly can start the task, which will send an important signal not just to this president, but to future presidents."

Clip Source: www.democracynow.org

ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN: I think the question for this committee is what is to be done now and what can be done now. Prosecution is unrealistic. The administration will never prosecute itself. Truth commissions? The administration will stonewall them, as they have so many committees of Congress. So, what is the realistic remedy? The only remedy, and that’s the one the framers gave to the Congress of the United States, the House and the Senate, is the remedy of impeachment, because no one can interfere with it.

You ask the President or the Vice President to give you the contents of the FBI statement, they don’t do that. That becomes an impeachable offense. You could ask them to provide them the information under oath. You may not be able to finish the task, but you certainly can start the task, which will send an important signal not just to this president, but to future presidents.

Cheney's Office Pushed Purge Of Climate Change Testimony

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 23:30:07 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's office was behind a push to censor congressional testimony that global warming poses a danger to the public, a former Environmental Protection Agency official told Congress.

The director of the Centers for Disease Control testified to a U.S. Senate panel last year about the public health effects of climate change in testimony that was heavily edited by the White House's Office of Management and Budget. Until now, Mr. Cheney's office hadn't been publicly linked to the efforts to keep information about climate change out of the public eye.

"We know that the administration's efforts have been about covering up the real dangers of global warming and hiding facts from the public," Sen. Boxer said at a press conference Tuesday. "This cover-up is being directed from the White House and the Office of the Vice President."

Tags: cheney, office, pushed, purge, climate, change, testimony

When it comes to civil rights, McCain has some explaining to do

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:30:10 GMT

clipped by: boniface
clipper's remarks: "In an effort to show that, if elected, he would be president of "all the people," John McCain has visited the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., the scene of one of the bloodiest civil rights marches in history. He's also traveled though Alabama's impoverished Black Belt region, and showed up for services commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis."

Clip Source: www.philly.com

Those gestures, designed to soften McCain's public image, cannot hide his awful record on civil rights.

In 11 grading periods since he began serving in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1983 and the Senate in 1987, McCain has earned an F for every period, according to an annual report by the NAACP.

Of the 11 grading periods, McCain's highest score was 50 percent (1985-86), meaning he supported positions on legislation favored by the NAACP half of the time. His second-highest score was 40 percent (1997-1998). In the nine other grading periods, he supported the NAACP 30 percent of the time or less.

Instead of getting better on civil rights in recent years, McCain has grown worse. Since his unsuccessful 2000 bid for president, McCain voted with the NAACP just 27 percent of the time during the 107th Congress, 15 percent in the 108th Congress and an all-time low of 7 percent during the first session of the 109th Congress, which ended in 2006.

No More Funds for Iraq

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 00:01:47 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.democrats.com

No More Funds for Iraq

George Bush is bullying Congress to give him $102 billion more to continue the disastrous occupation of Iraq into 2009 and beyond.

Bush's Iraq disaster has already cost American families the loss of 4,000 soldiers and cost American taxpayers $562 billion, and could cost $3 trillion if it continues.

The occupation of Iraq has greatly increased Al Qaeda terrorism worldwide, devastated the morale of American troops through repeated deployments and lowered recruiting standards, increased oil prices to $110 per barrel, and pushed the U.S. economy into a recession.

George Bush is defying the will of the American people, who elected a Democratic Congress in 2006 to end the occupation. Polls consistently show over 60% of Americans disapprove of the occupation, and over 70% of Iraqis want us to leave.

If Bush rejects all Democratic plans to bring our troops home, Congress must simply refuse to provide any more funds.

Sign below to tell Congress: Bring our troops home now!

Bush: "If I don't get my way, it'll hurt national security!"

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:37:52 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Bush says Congress must vote on Colombia pact

President George W. Bush said on Wednesday he intended to send a controversial free trade pact with Colombia to Congress soon for a vote and warned rejecting the pact would harm U.S. national security.

Bush said approval of the pact was essential to support a key ally in Latin America facing threats from the FARC guerrilla group at home and from neighboring Venezuela, led by leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Nader vs. the Democrats

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:29:57 GMT

clipped by: boniface
clipper's remarks: This idiot is going to put another Republican in office!

Clip Source: www.boston.com

In 2000, when Nader ran under the Green Party banner, about 2.9 million voters bought that argument. His views haven't much changed.

Nader's desire to see more than two major presidential candidates would make more sense if the United States had a parliamentary system, in which parties are represented in government roughly according to their percentage of the vote. But the president and the 535 members of Congress are chosen in winner-take-all races. This process leads almost inexorably to the emergence of two well-organized parties. In such races, third-party candidates are far more likely to play the spoiler - that is, to sink the candidate closest to them ideologically - than to be elected themselves.

After Bush prevailed in 2000, his administration honored the wishes of industry and weakened such agencies as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.

Time to Vote Contempt

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 06:20:47 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Alberto Gonzales may be out, but the country is still waiting for a full accounting of how he and his White House patrons cynically politicized the Justice Department. Congress is rightly asking questions about the actions of yet another United States attorney: New Jersey’s Christopher J. Christie. The House also needs to stop procrastinating and vote to hold witnesses in contempt for refusing to testify in the wider scandal.

Federal prosecutors must be scrupulously nonpartisan. Mr. Christie, a Republican activist who got his job despite a lack of trial and criminal-law experience, has gone up to the line of acceptable behavior — and possibly crossed it.

The founders did not want that when they wrote the Constitution, and the voters who elected this Congress do not want it today.

He should just apologize and leave!

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 14:45:11 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.voanews.com

Bush to Make His Last State of the Union Address

President Bush's final State of the Union address before both houses of Congress this Monday continues a long-standing tradition in the relations between the executive and legislative branches of the United States government. This year's nationally-televised address comes as several key issues are foremost in the minds of many Americans. VOA's Robert Raffaele explains.

President Bush (file photo)

President Bush faces continuing concerns about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and unsettled world financial markets.

1947 - Congress Declares Waterboarding A War Crime

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 05:12:03 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: Punishment cast? 15 years HARD LABOR.

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

On Jan. 21, 1968, The Washington Post published a front-page photograph of a U.S. soldier supervising the questioning of a captured North Vietnamese soldier who is being held down as water was poured on his face while his nose and mouth were covered by a cloth.

Twenty-one years earlier, in 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out another form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian. The subject was strapped on a stretcher that was tilted so that his feet were in the air and head near the floor, and small amounts of water were poured over his face, leaving him gasping for air until he agreed to talk.

"Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) told his colleagues last Thursday during the debate on military commissions legislation. "We punished people with 15 years of hard labor when waterboarding was used against Americans in World War II," he said.

Are These 9/11 Whistleblowers Credible?

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:51:59 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: Wow. Go to the source. The list goes on and on and on. Are they all crazies?

(They forgot to mention former Italian President Francesco Cossiga)

Clip Source: infowars.net

Are These 9/11 Whistleblowers Credible?

The following people question the government's version of 9/11 (are they credible or not?):

MILITARY LEADERS

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan (Col. Ronald D. Ray) said that the official story of 9/11 is "the dog that doesn't hunt" (bio)

Director of the U.S. "Star Wars" space defense program

(Col. Robert Bowman) stated that 9/11 was an inside job.

U.S. Army Air Defense Officer and NORAD Tac Director

(Capt. Daniel Davis)

President of the U.S. Air Force Accident Investigation Board

(Lt. Col. Jeff Latas)

U.S. General, Commanding General of U.S. European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe

(General Wesley Clark)

Canadian Minister of Defense

Assistant German Defense Minister

Commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy

Chief of staff of the Russian armed forces

INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONALS

9/11 COMMISSIONERS

SCIENTISTS

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS

LEGAL SCHOLARS

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

FAMILY MEMBERS

FIRST RESPONDERS

THOUSANDS OF OTHERS

Tags: 911, conspiracy, or, not