Elizabeth Baldwin Letchworth's Blog (44)

As you go about  your week, how about thanking a first responder for keeping us safe. If you see a policeman, a firefighter, EMT or any first responder, thank them on behalf of some many Americans who appreciate their sacrifice on a daily basis. Enjoy the "thank you" from GradeGov.com

http://www.gradegov.com/news.php?id=231

Keep the faith,

Elizabeth

Speaker Boehner (R-OH) holds the veto power over the U.S. Senate has they begin to consider the gun control bill on the floor of the Senate. The Speaker has an obligation to uphold the U.S. Constitution and he can do just that by using a procedure that gives him much control over the gun control debate and other Obama legislative agenda items in the coming months. Hear how: http://www.gradegov.com/news.php?id=227

Keep the…

The Rebuild America Tour has created a new TV AD...this says what we have wanted the Romney/Ryan team to say on the campaign trail. Enjoy and spread it where you can. It makes several key points and may just sway a few "undecided votes"...every little bit helps.

This AD is running in the mid-West in an effort to help bring 70 elec votes to the RR team...WI, IO, MI, PA and OH. Help spread it a-round...HINT: The AD mentions 100 rounds of golf!! Happy watching for 1 min.…

The Senate Budget committee Chairman, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) announced yesterday that he will call a Senate Budget committee markup on a long-term budget for the nation. The announcement of the Senate budget committee meeting has garnered some praise, but you might want to hold your applause and keep reading.

 You see, under the Budget Impoundment and Control act of 1974, the Senate budget committee is required by the law to report out a budget resolution and have the entire…

Over the past couple of weeks, the President has been criss-crossing the country politicking about his $447B stimulus/jobs bill and calling out the Congressional GOP membership for not conducting a vote on his bill. This is the same “jobs bill” that the President was quoted as saying: “Pass my bill” repeatedly in the joint session of Congress held almost a month ago on Sept. 8, 2011. Well, the Senate Republican Leader announced this past Monday afternoon on the Senate floor that he…

This past Monday night was a historic moment for the tea party movement in America. This celebrated event occurred when the first ever Tea Party Express/CNN televised GOP debate was aired from the state fairgrounds in Tampa, FL

The attendance at the tea party republican debate in Tampa was at standing room only capacity with tea party groups representing 47 different state tea party groups. As the event infolded with…

The August recess was a habit from back-in-the-day because at one time our U.S. Capitol didn't have the benefit of air conditioning. The Senate and House chambers are already full of much hot air without Mother Nature adding to the problem. In 1970, Congress basically made it a permanent recess when they included it in the legislative reorganization Act. So while most congressional DCers are off enjoying their "August recess", I thought it might be helpful to construct a brief history of…

Now the Senate Majority Leader has appointed his 3 members of the super-committee which was created as a result of the debt deal. The SC is made up of a total of 12 members and they must find at least $1.2 T in cuts to spending, reforming entitlement programs or tax increases. They have until Thanksgiving to do so. If they fail, an across-the-board cut occurs within our Federal Government. However, dozens of programs are exempted from the cutting knife. The 3…

This week the House of Representatives and the Senate spent all week trying to wrap up a new 3.0 debt deal and pass it along to the President before the end of the day on Tuesday, Aug. 2. This has been the drop dead date announced by Treasury Secretary Geithner back in May in order to avert a lapse in the borrowing authority of our federal government.

The Senate finally gave up on the possibility of being able to pass the 3.0 debt deal around 8pm Sunday evening only to try again tomorrow…

GradeGov membership as of July 31 DEM/INDEP=44% GOP=54%

Happy Sunday! The White House, Sen. McConnell and the Speaker of House are very close to a deal that will start in the Senate as early as mid-afternoon today if in fact the Speaker can get an OK from his side of the Capitol. The basics are:

-$2.8 T increase in the debt thru 2013

--Cuts adding up to $1 T and hoping for an add'l $1.8T found by the super-committee

--No tax increases…

Congress is once again spending their weekend in session and voting on dueling debt bills. The House passed a debt increase bill created by  Speaker Boehner last night by a vote of 218 to 210. Within an hour, the Senate killed the bill by a vote of 59 to 41. Sen. Reid then made some changes to his debt increase proposal and brought that measure up on the Senate floor. He then used a parliamentary procedure called cloture which requires 60 votes to limit the debate on the Reid amdt.…

As the hours pass and the Asian markets begin to open by early Sunday evening, the Speaker of the House has taken the reigns and is asking for a debt deal at least in outline form by 4pm today. The House GOP will be asked to attend a 4:30 call-in conference call and the Speaker hopes to hold a presser by early Sunday evening, presumably to announce a deal. This is an effort to…

The 11AM WH meeting today will be followed by a 2pm conf. call for the House GOP conference. The Speaker sent a letter to all last night explaining the negotiations with the POTUS. The letter says:

"A deal was never reached, and was never really close."

The President needs and wants a tax increase to be included in any deal. The Senate Dems want taxes also. The President added another $400B to the deal which is why the Speaker ended any talks. The…

President Obama's budget chief, Jack Lew, took to his White House blog in early March of 2011 to repeat his claim that the Social Security trust fund is solvent through 2037. This means that the money we put into SS each week from our pay checks is being put in the Social Security lock-box for safe keeping.

POTUS is saying now that he may not be able to write the SS checks due to our seniors after Aug. 2 if the Debt limit isn't increased. Obviously he must be robbing the…

The House comes off a one week recess period last week to resume the Department of Defense appropriations bill when they reconvene on Wednesday, July 6. The House may also pass the Energy and Water appropriations bill before the week ends for members of the House. Once the House passes the two appropriations bills that will bring the number to five completed appropriations bills. This means the House is almost half way through passing all twelve appropriations bills. Once all twelve…

Today in the Senate, all 47 U.S. Republican Senators will join in the introduction of a Constitutional amendment that will require the Federal Government to Balance its Budget. This Constitutional amendment will be voted on at some point during the week of July 18, 2011 in the U.S. Senate. This is a pledge that the Senate Republican Leader Sen. McConnell (R-KY) has made publically on several occasions. The last time Congress voted on a Constitutional amendment to balance the budget was in…

The House of Representative adjourned Friday, May 13^th for a week recess. Before they adjourned they passed the Intelligence authorization bill by a vote of 392 to 15. If the Senate passes this authorization bill, it will be the first time in over 4 years that the Congress has authorized this vital government agency. The House also passed the third of a series of energy bills that were considered and passed in an…