Nationally:
- Banks and investors pensively await a notice of the anticipated downgrade in credit rating for American banks.
- Supreme Court decision on Obama care expected. The Hill is reporting. "Legal insiders are convinced the Supreme Court will strike down all or part of President Obama's healthcare law, according to a new survey of former Supreme Court clerks and attorneys who have argued before the court conducted by Purple Strategies on behalf of the conservative American Action Forum. According to the survey, "fifty-seven percent of the attorneys and former clerks now say they expect the court to strike down the law's individual mandate -- compared with just 35 percent who thought that was likely in March."
Obama Administration:
Commerce Secretary John Bryson announced today in a letter to President Obama that he is stepping down from his post, citing a recent seizure and medical leave of absence. Earlier this month, Bryson was cited in a felony hit-and-run car accident in Los Angeles after suffering a seizure while driving. It is unknown, weather this charge will holed if the medical problem created the situation.
Congress:
The Senate reconvened and resumed consideration of S. 3240, the farm bill. They will vote on the final group of 8 farm bill amendments, all of which require 60 votes for adoption. Once all amendments have been voted on, the Senate will vote on final passage of S. 3240, which will require 60 votes to pass. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) expressed the frustration of the major agricultural states with the Senate version put form by the democrats, “Although the Senate’s version of the Farm Bill includes a number of important reforms, the commodity section of lacks vital protection for southern farmers, especially rice and peanuts. I cannot support a Farm Bill that does not have a strong safety net for all crops and regions.. This nation has a diverse fabric of agriculture with a variety of risks, and we must write a Farm Bill that serves the country as a whole. As the process moves forward, I feel confident we can come to an agreement that creates an equitable safety net for all crops and regions.”
Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1940, the flood insurance bill. A cloture vote could come this afternoon (a vote to cut off debate and begin considering the bill).
Yesterday, the Senate voted 53-46 against taking up S.J. Res. 37, the resolution of disapproval of the EPA’s expensive Utility-MACT regulation, offered by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK).
Also yesterday, during a long series of votes, the Senate adopted 7 amendments to the farm bill and rejected 9 more. Also rejected were two motions to recommit the bill to Agriculture Committee: a motion by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to recommit the bill and report it back reduced to funding levels from fiscal year 2008 and a motion from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to recommit the bill and report it back split into one bill on farm programs and another on food stamp programs.
The House reconvened and continued debate on H.R. 4480 — "To provide for the development of a plan to increase oil and gas exploration, development, and production under oil and gas leases of Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Defense in response to a drawdown of petroleum reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."
Yesterday the House passed by voice vote . S. 3187 — "To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to revise and extend the user-fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, to establish user-fee programs for generic drugs and biosimilars, and for other purposes."
Also, yesterday the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Republican Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA), approved a resolution along party lines to place Holder in Contempt of Congress after battling him for months over access to internal agency documents about the gun-tracking operation Fast and Furious. The resolution was sent to the Speaker of the House for consideration and action. the vote was along party line.
The vote was forced by AG Eric Holders failure to provided documents to the Oversight Committee and the President actions yesterday. As reported, the President Obama asserted executive privileged over documents from the DOJ requested by the House Oversight committee investigating the incident known as Fast and Furious. Many, regardless of political affiliation, find this action by the Obama White House very onerous because Attorney General Eric Holder has been dragging his feet in providing requested documents and this White House action has been taken right before the final deadline and a potential charging of AG Eric Holder with Contempt of Congress.
Debate over Free Speech Continues - Do The Liberals Despise the Constitution?
Liberals fond of regulating and restricting political speech have come out of the woodwork to attack Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's warning of their threats to First Amendment. From Fred Wertheimer, to former DCCC chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Daily Kos, Robert Reich, Ed Schultz and Norm Ornstein (who recently wrote a book accusing Republicans and tea partiers of being what’s really wrong with Washington). Most of the criticism has been about their desire for disclosure, completely ignoring Leader McConnell’s point that “if disclosure is forced upon some but not all, it’s not an act of good government, it’s a political weapon.” He explained that liberals’ preferred policies amount to “an effort by the government itself to expose its critics to harassment and intimidation, either by government authorities or through third-party allies.”
"However, this week liberals have evidenced their hypocrisy regarding transparency and disclosure. Lachlan Markay, Heritage Foundation notes, “President Obama invoked executive privilege to prevent further congressional oversight of the Justice Department’s Fast and Furious operation on the same day it bemoaned the supposed lack of transparency among some conservative non-profits. Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, touted efforts on the campaign’s website to get Crossroads GPS, a conservative super PAC, to disclose its donors. But while Messina was hyping political transparency, Obama himself was ensuring the opacity of one of his Justice Department’s most controversial programs. On Wednesday morning, the president opted to stonewall the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s efforts to obtain documents related to Operation Fast and Furious, which facilitated the transportation of thousands of firearms across the southern border, where they were handed off to Mexican drug cartels with the foreknowledge of some top DOJ officials.”
Meanwhile, the Washington Free Beacon reports, “Liberal protesters funded by secretive, big money non-profits marched to the headquarters of a conservative super PAC on Wednesday to protest the influence of secretive big money in politics. Starting from a downtown Hilton in Washington, D.C., protesters marched more than a mile in sweltering heat before arriving at the headquarters of American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, the political group cofounded by Republican strategist Karl Rove. The event was sponsored by such liberal groups as the Campaign for America’s Future, Rebuild the Dream, People for the American Way, Public Campaign, The Other 98%, Health Care for America Now, Alliance for Justice, Public Citizen, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).”
The Free Beacon adds, “Many of the groups sponsoring the rally engage in the same tactics they claim to deplore. . . . For example, the Campaign for America’s Future, which describes itself as ‘the strategy center for the progressive movement,’ does not disclose its donors. It could not be reached for comment. Billy Wimsatt, the partnerships director and co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, was unsure if his organization released its donors. When asked if he knew who funded the group, he said, ‘That’s not my job.’ Rebuild the Dream was co-founded by former Obama green jobs czar and 9/11 Truther Van Jones, with help from the liberal activist group MoveOn. The organization was not available for comment to disclose its donors. Jones’ other organization, Color of Change, does not reveal its sources of funding.”
Heritage Foundation expert Hans von Spakovsky noted, “As a former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, I have to say ‘amen’ to Sen. McConnell’s remarks. The unprecedented attacks on political speech by ‘reform’ groups and mainstream media outlets have been unrelenting in the last three decades. The so-called ‘reform’ laws passed by Congress with the approbation of the Washington Post and the New York Times to regulate the financing of federal campaigns have been complex, confusing pieces of legislation intended to protect incumbents and chill political speech. Everyone who believes in the First Amendment and the fundamental rights protected by the Bill of Rights should unite to fight these deceptively-labeled ‘reform’ efforts. The First Amendment does not need to be reformed, just abided by.”
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