Why Harry Reid Cannot Legitimately Refuse to Seat Roland Burris…

Harry Reid is definitely bluffing when he says the Senate won’t sit Roland Burris (or any other person appointed by Rod Blagojevich).

Thankfully, in Powell vs. McCormack the Warren Supreme Court clearly states that the only basis by which Congress can judge the qualification (and thereby the eligibility) of its members, are the qualifications prescribed in the Constitution of the United States:

Further, analysis of the “textual commitment” under Art. I, § 5 (see Part VI, B(1)), has demonstrated that, in judging the qualifications of its members, Congress is limited to the standing qualifications prescribed in the Constitution. Respondents concede that Powell met these. Thus, there is no need to remand this case to determine whether he was entitled to be seated in the 90th Congress. Therefore, we hold that, since Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was duly elected by the voters of the 18th Congressional District of New York and was not ineligible to serve under any provision of the Constitution, the House was without power to exclude him from its membership.

What are those Constitutional requirements, and does Roland Burris meet them?

Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for senators:

1) each senator must be at least 30 years old.

2) must have been a citizen of the United States for at least the past nine years.

3) must be (at the time of the election) an inhabitant of the state they seek to represent.

Roland Burris meets all 3, so either Harry Reid wants to have a Constitutional Crisis pitting him, and bunch of white men (and a few white women) in the Senate against the only Black Senator, a dynamic in which the race card shall supersede all others in the court of public opinion, or he’ll have to pick another battle… I think he’ll pick another battle…

Posted by PUMA Pundit

And so it begins… National Socialism in America…

No joke, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and of course Barack Obama want to increase the stake of the federal government in the big 3 car manufacturers, in exchange for a humongous ownership stake in them:

A key House Democrat is writing legislation that would send $25 billion in emergency loans to the beleaguered auto industry in exchange for a government ownership stake in the Big Three car companies.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reidare pressing for quick passage of an auto bailout during a postelection session of Congress that begins Tuesday.

The legislation being drafted by Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, would dip into the $700 billion Wall Street rescue money approved by Congress last month for the auto aid. President Bush is cool to that idea, although the White House says he is open to helping the troubled industry

 It is awful that we’ve to all intents and purposes we are entering a period of national socialism. What else do you consider the following:

The government takes your tax dollars

The government invests your tax dollars in companies it feels represent a good investment choice (AIG, AMEX, the Big 3 Auto Makers), based on criteria determined by the government and not by you.

You gain nothing from the investment if it succeeds, the government does, but if it fails, your tax dollars which were invested without your permission, have gone down the drain.

Folks, if this is not national socialism, I don’t know what the heck it is. Why should the government determine what I invest in, and how I invest in it? What happened to my ability to choose how my money is spent? 

Obviously, GM, Ford and Chrysler have all been publicly traded companies for ages, if consumers thought they were a good investment option, they would have invested in them and driven the cost of their shares up, thereby keeping the companies financially solvent. Secondly, if consumers thought their products were superior, they would have bought them instead of Hondas, Toyotas and what not, obviously, that is not what public sentiment is.

To cut a long story short, the Govt should not be in the business of investing tax payer dollars in failed companies. This is not Soviet Russia, Communist Cuba or Socialist Venezuela.

Posted by PUMA Pundit

Barack Obama in 2005 on the need to purge the Democratic Party of Centrists…

Just like Hitler, Lenin, Saddam, Castro and Chavez all  laid out their political vision way before they came to power, here is Barack Obama laying out his. In October 2005, he posted an article at the Mecca of extreme left wing thought,  Daily Kos. The main thrust of his argument was that the centrist wing of the Democratic party needs to be driven out so that the liberal wing can run the show,  here are a few excerpts from his article:

There is one way, over the long haul, to guarantee the appointment of judges that are sensitive to issues of social justice, and that is to win the right to appoint them by recapturing the presidency and the Senate.  And I don’t believe we get there by vilifying good allies, with a lifetime record of battling for progressive causes, over one vote or position.    I am convinced that, our mutual frustrations and strongly-held beliefs notwithstanding, the strategy driving much of Democratic advocacy, and the tone of much of our rhetoric, is an impediment to creating a workable progressive majority in this country.

In order to beat them [Republicans], it is necessary for Democrats to get some backbone, give as good as they get, brook no compromise, drive out Democrats who are interested in “appeasing” the right wing, and enforce a more clearly progressive agenda.  The country, finally knowing what we stand for and seeing a sharp contrast, will rally to our side and thereby usher in a new progressive era.

and

Let me be clear: I am not arguing that the Democrats should trim their sails and be more “centrist.” In fact, I think the whole “centrist” versus “liberal” labels that continue to characterize the debate within the Democratic Party misses the mark. Too often, the “centrist” label seems to mean compromise for compromise sake, whereas on issues like health care, energy, education and tackling poverty, I don’t think Democrats have been bold enough.

I guess he put his plans into action, and along with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid has carried out a coup against the Centrist wing of the Democratic party led by Hillary Clinton…

Of course the next step is to do same against the very fabric of American Society, and take us from being a centrist nation to an extreme left (socialist) one…

Thanks to PUMA Robin for the heads up.

Posted by PUMA Pundit

McCain Suspends Campaign To Focus On Fixing Economic Crisis…

For John McCain / Sarah Palin, it is always “Country First“.

John McCain asked the Presidential Debate Commission on Wednesday to postpone Friday’s scheduled debate with Barack Obama so that he can work on the financial crisis bailout plan now on Capitol Hill.

The Arizona Republican senator said he will suspend his presidential campaign on Thursday to return to Washington to help with bailout negotiations. He urged Obama to do the same.

Obama meanwhile insists that the debate is still on

“I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me,” McCain planned to say in New York City, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign. “I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

However a senior Obama campaign official said Obama “intends to debate. The debate is on.”…

Obama is willing to return to Washington “if it would be helpful.” But Obama intends to debate on Friday, an official said.

To back up his commitment to suspend the campaign, McCain is yanking his campaign ads.

McCain was responding inter alia to yesterday’s call by Harry Reid :

“We need, now, the Republicans to start producing some votes for us. We need the Republican nominee for president to let us know where he stands and what we should do.”

Incidentally, Harry Reid had a different tune today when McCain called him on his bluff:

A Democrat tells ABC News that, in a phone call late this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that it would NOT be helpful for him to come back to Washington, D.C., to work on the Wall Street bailout bill.

“This is a critical time for our country,” says the Reid statement. “While I appreciate that both candidates have signaled their willingness to help, Congress and the Administration have a process in place to reach a solution to this unprecedented financial crisis. I understand that the candidates are putting together a joint statement at Senator Obama’s suggestion. But it would not be helpful at this time to have them come back during these negotiations and risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy. If that changes, we will call upon them. We need leadership; not a campaign photo op. If there were ever a time for both candidates to hold a debate before the American people about this serious challenge, it is now.”

A source close to Reid said McCain didn’t have much to say after that.

In the final analysis from Hotair:

I think Reid fears more than just the idea that McCain will “risk injecting presidential politics into this process or distract important talks about the future of our nation’s economy.” What Reid fears is that McCain will return to lead the Republican effort to reach a compromise, and the Senate and House GOP will let him do it. If McCain takes ownership of the bailout effort and manages to get his suggestions on limiting executive compensation and so on as part of the finished product, he will be able to trot McCain-Dodd on the campaign trail as yet another reform he’s accomplished by working across the aisle. And in a time of crisis, no less.

And what will Obama be able to say? He gave a couple of speeches and raised cash for himself while McCain went to work for the nation.

Meanwhile it seems McCain wants to postpone the VP debate as well, good move Maverick. Can’t be like Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burned…

It also seems that McCain will NOT take part in the debate if there is no resolution reached in Congress by Friday on the bailout.

Posted by PUMA Pundit

Guess who says Obama has no plan? Harry Reid, That’s Who…

My question is this, if the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid says “no one knows what to do” in order to turn the economy around, hasn’t he made it abundantly clear that his own party’s nominee, Barack Hussein Obama is in way over his head?

Well folks, if the leader of the Dems in the Senate admits no one (including Barack Obama) knows what to do, why on earth should anyone who cares about the economy cast a vote for Barack?

Of course it can be argued that Reid was referring to Bush, well, even if he was, if Obama knew what to do, shouldn’t he have said it?

In an article from ABC News’ Z. Byron Wolf we have the following nuggets (video too):

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asked today what new regulatory actions Congress can take, said, bluntly, “No one knows what to do. We are in new territory here. This is a different game. We’re not here playing soccer, basketball or football, this is a new game and we’re going to have to figure out how to do it.”

So there you have it folks, a vote for Barack Obama is a vote for someone who DOES NOT know what to do to turn the economy around…

Posted by AD76