United Liberty

Later this week, the Senate Banking Committee will hold hearings on the reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. I oppose his reappointment and sent the following email to Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) this evening. Bayh is a member of the committee and is my Senator.

Senator Bayh,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my position on the pending reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Chairman Bernanke has been a central player in national economic issue for several years and has failed in his duty to oversee the banking system. While Bernanke’s policies which have been executed over the past year have provided temporary relief to a distressed system, he has failed to correct structural issues which will continue to impair the economy. Further, he has stretched the authority of the Federal Reserve and has sought to obfuscate critical information regarding collateral for the myriad of new programs which he implemented.

We need real change and new perspective at the Federal Reserve. Please oppose Bernanke’s reappointment.

Regards,
Matthew Wittlief
Indianapolis, IN

Let’s hope common sense prevails. Please contact your Senators - especially if they serve on the Banking Committee - and voice your position.

According to LewRockwell.com:

Peter Schiff will announce his long-awaited decision to run for the federal senate against Crook Dodd (D-CT) on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Thursday.

With the exception of Lindsey Graham’s “yes” votes, the vote to send Sonia Sotomayor’s SCOTUS nomination to the full Senate was strictly partisan:

The Senate Judiciary Committee this morning endorsed Sonia Sotomayor to become an associate justice of the Supreme Court on a largely partisan vote that sends her historic nomination to the full Senate for a final decision on her confirmation.

The 13 to 6 vote came nearly two weeks after the committee’s members grilled Sotomayor for 2 ½ days, eliciting answers that betrayed little indication of how the nominee, an appellate judge for the past 11 years, would rule on the most significant issues that come before the nation’s highest court.

The Senate will vote today on whether or not to allow concealed carry permit holders to take their guns to another state:

Gun control and gun rights advocates are heading for another clash with a Senate vote on a measure that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry those hidden weapons into other states.

Backers, led by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., say truckers and others with concealed weapons permits should be able to protect themselves when they cross into other states. Opponents say the measure would force states with strict procedures for getting permits to accept permits from states with more lax laws.

The Senate has scheduled a vote Wednesday on the measure, which Thune offered as an amendment to a major defense policy bill. Under an agreement reached among Senate leaders, 60 votes will be needed to approve the amendment.

Despite having a substantial minority, Republicans could still block an appointment to the Supreme Court, should they choose to go that route:

[I]n an ironic twist, Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s switch to the Democratic Party this week could give Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee the upper hand in rejecting a nominee they find unacceptable.

That’s because the Judiciary Committee, where Specter was the ranking minority member, requires the consent of at least one Republican to end debate and move a nominee to the full Senate for a vote.
[…]
[T]he most likely Republican to help Democrats on the committee is South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was one of the Gang of 14, a group of seven Democrats and seven Republicans who averted a showdown on President Bush’s judicial nominees in 2005.

I’m in the middle of working on another post, and The Rachel Maddow Show is on in the background. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is not-so-affectionately nicknamed by conservative radio host Mark Levin as “Chucky Schmucky”, is making an appearance. He was just discussing how he hopes that more of the “mainline conservative” Republican Senators will be willing to break party ranks from the “hard right” and vote their conscience.

I have recently discovered the awesomeness that is Google Reader and through this have subscribed to the “Introduced Legislation” feed from GovTrack.  So, practically every other day I’m treated to at least 50+ new pieces of legislation that our intrepid government representatives have introduced in the House of Senate.  Here are a few that have popped up in the last week or so (yes, there is little that our federal government has not stuck its nose into)—

H.R. 1117: Medically Fragile Children’s Act of 2009- introduced by Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

From the floor debate in the Senate on February 7 regarding the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act:

Incidentally, let me share with a few of my colleagues why this is sort of this old ideology versus new. The Senator talked about the tired ideology of the past. What is it? Well, I think today Michael Steele, the new chairman of the Republican National Committee, made a statement on behalf of the Republican Party. He said:

For the last 2 weeks, we have been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.

Well, we are having votes. This is a democracy. We are not forcing anything. We are trying to get the job done because there is an urgency to getting it done.

But then he says:

I remember how exited I was to be selected as a page for the Alabama Senate. It was April of 1993, and I recall driving up to Montgomery with my best friend growing up, Matt Hartfield. We were both 16 years old, and it was our first road trip on our own. I remember we stayed at a hotel that later became the Riverwalk Stadium where the Montgomery Biscuits minor league team presently resides.

I was very active in local politics as a volunteer, even though being a conservative Republican in the Wiregrass in 1993 was still a very lonely place at times.

But oddly enough, Alabama had a Republican governor. Guy Hunt was elected in 1987 as a result of a civil war within the Democratic Party. Alabama was a one-party state, and the Democratic primary was the de facto election-winner for statewide offices.

Lately, in the wake of all the rotten legislation being proposed today, a lot of people have asked me how they can contact their congressmen and senators.

I decided to put together a quick guide that I believe will maximize the effect of your citizen lobbying activities!

1. Find out who represents you.

Very Important! Most people don’t know who represents them in Congress. It’s always good to be from a congressman’s district before asking him to do something!

To find out who represents you, use this link.

2. Don’t send letters.

After the Anthrax scare several years ago, all mail takes forever to get to your congressman. So, by the time they get to your comments, chances are the crisis you were writing about has been settled a long time.