Tell your US Rep. and two US Senators NO to the 2008 Farm Bill

The National Taxpayers Union is asking us to send a letter to each our US Representative and two US Senators, asking them to uphold President Bush's veto of the 2008 Farm Bill.

Congress is poised to pass a five-year, $300 billion agricultural policy plan. Known simply as the Farm Bill, it includes provisions that deliberately aim to keep certain food prices (like sugar and dairy products) high. It allows millionaires to continue receiving subsidy handouts from the government, and it will also spend more money on fraud-ridden food welfare programs.

If we value efficient, fiscally-disciplined government, please send this letter (you can edit it if you wish). Or, you can reach your congressmembers through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Your representatives want to hear from you- tell them NO to the 2008 Farm Bill. Thank you

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New political discussion blog: Understated Priorities

I have begun a political blog called "Understated Priorities"-- it's at www.understatedpriorities.blogspot.com

It is mostly entries from reference books on the topic of politics: quotes, aphorisms, poems and a lot more. I discuss each entry and am open for your comments, too. Current posts included:

• Circumstances
• Boldness

Here is your opportunity to reflect on the major thoughts related to government, politics and people. Enjoy!

David Weller

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Tell your two US Senators to vote YES for full-vote Washington, DC representation

Public Citizen is asking us to call or write our US Senators in favor of having a US Representative for Washington, DC residents. Our more than half a million District of Columbia citizens have been paying federal income taxes, fighting in wars and all of the other things Americans have done over the years, but they don't have a vote in Congress!

Prominent constitutional scholars and former Congressmembers agree that they can legally have their own full-voting Congressmember. Why wait any longer? Please call both of your US Senators at the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121; or, use Public Citizen's webpage to send them a message. Then email action@citizen.org with your senators' responses. Thank you

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Announcing the Congress Reform team lineup!

Well, today is the big day, when All Things Reform's Facebook has determined the current lineup for our Congressional Reform team.

We have two "starting" levels: the All-Stars, and the practice squad. Here are the lineups:

Congress Reform All-Stars

• US Rep. Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi
• US Sen. Russ Feingold
• US Sen. Majority Whip Dick Durbin
• US Rep. Jeff Flake
• US Sen. Jim DeMint
• US Rep. Dennis Kucinich
  

Congress Reform practice squad

• US Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
• US Sen. Ted Stevens
• US Rep. Jack Murtha
• US Sen. Larry Craig
• US Rep. William Jefferson
  
• US Sen. John Ensign

There you have it, the Congressional Reform team! Check out the pictures and the strengths/ weaknesses of these players at All Things Reform Facebook page right now!

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Change Congress aims to bring reform candidates to congressional office

Change Congress is now open for business! Founded by Lawrence Lessig and Joe Trippi, Change Congress aims to find, debate with and win over congressional candidates on several reform issues. Citizens can get involved right away, by pledging their support for this cause, finding candidates in their districts, and asking them to pledge their support for these reforms. Join now!

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Pork requests flooding Appropriations Committee right now

It looks like business as usual for Washington, DC, as a flood of earmark requests is deluging upon the Appropriations Committee as we speak. Diligence is the word for fiscal discipline activists from several public interest groups.

From Americans for Prosperity's blog:

" We just received this forwarded e-mail from a source on Capitol Hill - it looks like a "massive influx" of pork requests has essentially crashed the Appropriations Committee's site. As a result, they're extending the deadline for pork requests from today until Monday - good news for the porkers, but bad news for the taxpayers:

----- Original Message -----
From: Nabors, Rob
Sent: Wed Mar 19 15:06:17 2008
Subject: URGENT -- EXTENSION OF DEADLINE FOR APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE REQUESTS. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO APPROPRIATE STAFF.

Dear Member Offices:

As a result of the massive influx of requests being submitted today, the Appropriations Committee website is experiencing unavoidable access and processing delays.

In order to accommodate Member offices attempting to input data, any request submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Monday, March 24th will be considered as having been submitted “on time” for purposes of consideration by the Committee.

Sincerely,

Rob Nabors

Staff Director and Clerk

House Appropriations Committee "

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Check if your Congressmembers' websites include local appropriations (earmarks) forms

According to a recent Americans for Prosperity blog post, at least three Congressmembers have online earmark request forms! That's right, if you are a constituent of these public servants, you can request federal money for non-legislative, locally-based projects online:

Florida Senator Bill Nelson: http://www.billnelson.senate.gov/contact/appropriationsfy09.cfm

Montana Representative Denny Rehberg: http://www.house.gov/rehberg/approps.form.shtml [Page not found]

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown: http://brown.senate.gov/ohio/constituent_services/spending_request/

Check your own two US Senators' and US Representative's websites to see if they presently offer this same online constituent appropriations "service".

AFP in its post suggests we taxpayers hijack these online forms "to make a statement about just how big a problem earmarks have become (wink wink, nudge, nudge) and to demand transparency for earmark requests before earmarks make it into appropriations reports." I don't know how this may (legally) be done, but we are the owners of this country, and our representatives work for us... it is up to us, ultimately...

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A look at fiscally controversial 2007 Farm Bill by Taxpayers for Common Sense

The 2007 Farm Bill (H.R. 2419) is yet to be finalized. It is a popular bone of contention to fiscal reformers who see way to much waste and antiquated spending clauses in the annual spending bill. Taxpayers for Common Sense gives us an analysis of what it included in this year's bill being legislated on right now, and suggests ways to correct it and bring it under fiscal control for the American taxpayer.

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Tell your US Representative and two US Senators NO to Bush administration slush fund

Public Citizen has a grassroots campaign to stop President Bush from increasing his battle to put big money interests over the public interest. Please tell your US Representative and two US Senators enough is enough, and to deny the administration abusing this extra power.

I just found out that the president is asking Congress to give him a slush fund -- he wants the ability to move funds around in the Executive Office of the President, which could mean giving the White House's regulatory office more power to put us at risk.

This is the office that is responsible for children dying and getting brain damage in the 1980s from Reye's Syndrome, because it kept the FDA from putting a simple warning label on aspirin. And it's been playing this dangerous game time and time again ever since then, putting us all at risk in ways we don't always know about, because it's so powerful but very secretive.

I just took action to tell Congress to say NO to the slush fund for Bush's White House -- and you can, too, at
http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23409&track=slushTAF

It think it's just outrageous he thinks he can get away with this!

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US Reps. Lois Capps and Devin Nunes named Porkers of the Month

From CAGW's Porker of the Month page:

" Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has named Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) and Devin Nunes (R-Calif) Porkers of the Month for attempting to impede the recovery of hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicare overpayments. Using Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), private-sector auditing companies that specialize in uncovering improper payments, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has recouped $357.2 million in overpayments to Medicare providers in California, Florida, and New York since 2005. A demonstration project slated to roll out nationwide next month, the RAC audits have deterred fraud and reduced Medicare’s improper payment rate, according to CMS officials. However, with their home-state hospitals objecting to having to account for $120 million in improper payments, Reps. Capps and Nunes have introduced H.R. 4105, which would place a one-year moratorium on the RAC program, blocking the nationwide rollout and essentially ending the three-state pilot project. For being more interested in kowtowing to pressure from hospitals in their districts that billed for millions they were not entitled to than in shielding the Medicare program and taxpayers from huge losses, CAGW names Reps. Capps and Nunes its February, 2008 Porkers of the Month. "

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Join tele-press conference, sign petition to demand hearing on substandard military helmets

The image above shows a helmet and the amount of kevlar that was left out due to Sioux Manufacturing's substandard production.

Tomorrow, Thursday, February 28th, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), will join VoteVets.org and two whistle blowers to discuss the need for a congressional investigation into a $74 million Department of Defense contract awarded to a North Dakota manufacturing company, Sioux Manufacturing Company, which has been outfitting our nation's troops with substandard Kevlar helmets.

New tape recordings of employees discussing the production of the substandard Kevlar for helmets will be publicly played and posted for the first time during the TELE-PRESS Conference, tomorrow at 10:30 am. The call in number is 866-211-5938 (no passcode required).

The public is invited. For further conference details, please go here.

Also, VoteVets.org has a petition drive on its website-- Petition to Demand Hearings on Substandard Helmet Procurement, where you can show your support.

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Call your U.S. Representative to vote YES for an independent ethics office

Common Cause is asking us to call our own U.S. Representatives and telling them to vote in favor of a new, independent ethics enforcement office. For years, the House ethics committee has been negligent is following up complaints, investigating problems and enforcing ethics laws. This new independent office would relieve Congress members from the difficulties of self-regulation. Please call soon, as the vote to allow the new office will be made as early as Thursday. Thank you; please leave their response to your call at Common Cause.

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Congressional earmark database complete for FY 2008

Taxpayers for Common Sense has completed its database of fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills earmarks.

Congress inserted 12,881 earmarks worth $18.3 billion into this year’s spending bills, $14.8 billion of which were disclosed by lawmakers. This represents a 23 percent cut in total earmarks from the high water mark of 2005, but a smaller cut than the 50 percent reduction House leadership initially set as its goal.

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To call your U.S. Rep. or U.S. Senator: 202-224-3121

More than 125 years since the installation of the first telephone in the Capitol, the Capitol switchboard office employs a staff of more than two dozen and handles in excess of 30,000 calls per week. To find your senators' and representative's phone numbers, you may use the Congress.org searchable online congressional directory or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask for your senators' and/or representative's office.

Remember that telephone calls are usually taken by a staff member, not the member of Congress. Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issue about which you wish to comment.

After identifying yourself, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: "Please tell Senator/Representative (Name) that I support/oppose (S.___/H.R.___)."

You will also want to state reasons for your support or opposition to the bill. Ask for your senators' or representative's position on the bill. You may also request a written response to your telephone call.

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Sound science should overrule high powered lobbying

Our legislators in Washington have increasingly over recent years taken stock on the ill-educated lobby industry over sound scientific advise. Clearly, there is a campaign finance element behind this, as this is a corruption of the decision-making process for our Congress and President. Below is a letter I wrote to my U.S. Representative on the topic and corn ethanol, as an blind alternative energy issue drive in Washington:


Dear Representative Neugebauer,
I understand the federal government is still moving forward on the scientific fallacy that ethanol is an improvement on our environment. Quite the opposite! The subsidies from Congress has encouraged a replacement of the food of corn and raised it's price and the entire food chain corn gives! Also, the subsidies encourage a plowing away of land around the world to land cover that is much worse for the climate than what was already there! Please, let's consider more effective alternative fuels before the high-powered lobbyists once again take the place of sound science.
Thanks in advance, David Weller

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Attorney General Mukasey will not enforce contempt charges against executive branch officials from Congress

TPMmuckraker blog has an update on Attorney General Mukasey's interview before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. On the issue of whether he would enforce a charge of contempt by Congress against executive branch officials who deny subpoenas, he said "no". This is clearly against his charge of office. In controversy after controversy from the Bush administration, the executive branch has been siding on obfuscation, denial, rejection, lies and contempt when it has been asked for further information from Congress.

Perhaps Senator Robert Wexler's intent to call for impeachment hearings against Vice President Cheney is due to, as he says, "these abuses of executive power and the fact that the White House still refuses to provide any answers whatsoever to subpoenas."

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U.S. House leadership: start cooperating with law enforcement agencies!

CREW, a public advocacy organization, has posted information about a letter sent today to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner asking that the House leaders start cooperating with law enforcement authorities pursuing legitimate criminal investigations involving members of Congress.

Leaders of the House have been improperly shielding members of Congress – including former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) -- from criminal investigation and prosecution through an expansive and aggressive interpretation of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution.

Members of Congress, like all other citizens, can hire attorneys to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected; this is not, however, the job of the House general counsel, hired at taxpayer expense.

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New wiki helps make bills easier to read

Readable Laws wiki subtitle is "Legislation in plain English". It focuses on only several Congressional bills active right now, as it is still fairly new. They are always looking for contributors to this wiki form of public collaboration, to increase its number of bills.

This site is a project of NewAssignment.Net, a project in open-source, pro-am journalism. It will prove to be very helpful to the vast majority of the general public (including me!) wanting to find out what interesting bills in legislation actually say.

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Vote for 2007 Porker of the Year

Swineline blog from Citizens Against Government Waste has opened an online poll for 2007 "Porker of the Year". Yes, now you can have your say on who was the most egregious earmark spender among the U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators in our hallowed halls of Congress! Vote now!

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Many Congressional websites get failing grades

The Gate blog from National Journal has news on the effectiveness of Congress's websites. The news is not good. As the internet grows in importance to citizens finding out about their government, the quality of Congress's websites must follow suit. Here's the post:

January 14, 2008
New Report Gives Congressional Web Sites Flunking Grades
A number of congressional Web sites received flunking marks from the Congressional Management Foundation in a report released Monday.
The report, which evaluated 618 congressional Web sites, gave 18.8 percent of these sites an F, while 22.8 percent received a D. Only 16.8 percent of the sites received an A from the group. The foundation said Web sites were evaluated on how well they incorporate the following factors: "audience, content, usability, interactivity, and innovation."
The analysis -- funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation --seeks to recognize congressional Web sites that successfully use the Internet and to provide practical guidance to all offices on how to improve their Web sites.
The foundation found that "the Senate continues to outperform the House of Representatives on the Web." The number of "substandard or failing committee sites increased to 44 percent, and the percentage of House and Senate committee (both majority and minority) Web sites scoring an 'F' doubled between 2006 and 2007," the group also found.
The report further held that a third of congressional sites do not have a functional search engine, and 57 percent do not contain information about legislative issues of interest to the state.
-WINTER CASEY, National Journal

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