Doesn’t Harry Reid know that Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest? A day for NFL playoffs. Apparently not, since he’s calling for a special Sunday vote on an omnibus lands bill that removes public land that would be available for recreational, commercial, and private ownership use by designating such land as wilderness areas, heritage areas, conservation areas and wild and scenic rivers. Furthermore, the bill places restrictions on existing federal property. It gets worse; the bill restricts energy exploration and is loaded with wasteful earmarks. Over 3 …
On December 10, Senate Democrats sent a letter to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich writing: ““We write to insist that you step down and…under no circumstances make an appointment to fill the vacant Illinois Senate seat.” The letter further threatened that if Blagojevich ignored their warning, “we would be forced to exercise our Constitutional authority under Article I, Section 5, to determine whether such a person should be seated.” Well now that Blagojevich has appointed Roland Burris to President-elect Barack Obama’s old senate seat, most Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Harry …
Congress is considering increasing the length of time unemployed workers can collect unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Normally unemployed workers can collect UI benefits for up to 26 weeks. Congress changed the law to allow 39 weeks of benefits. Now many in Congress want to allow 46 weeks of benefits. One of the reasons Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) give for this change is the fact that long-term unemployment has increased. This is true: The number of workers unemployed for more than 26 weeks has …
Congress returns from recess this week to debate a bailout for Detroit’s automakers. Heritage’s Brian Darling surveys the landscape on Capitol Hill. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcdy_bVq_nI[/youtube]
1082 pages. $3 billion in earmarks. At least 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 300 million barrels of oil off limits. Congress is at it again. In an attempt to squeeze an omnibus package during the lame-duck session, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid said that beginning November 17th a debate over a public lands bill that includes 160 pieces of legislation will take place. The bill contains ridiculous earmarks such as $3.5 million to celebrate the 450th birthday of St. Augustine Florida in 2015 and $5 million on …
Leave it to Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid to crash the Energy Freedom party. Not only is he crashing the party, he’s doing so through the side door where he thinks no one can see him. Just when it appeared that we could celebrate Congress lifting the ban on oil shale, Senator Reid “has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout.” Thanks to Senator Jim DeMint and his blog for alerting the public and providing the text of the …
Yesterday before the Joint Economic Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made a clear case as to why federal action is needed: home mortgages and car loans had become harder to get, commercial credit was becoming scarce for many businesses and consumer spending had already declined. Leaders in both parties know that inaction will hit Main Street hard. According to The Washington Post, public utility companies will have to raise rates to cover the increased costs of short-term borrowing, two-thirds of National Small Business Association members report feeling pressure from …
It’s time for the NRC to listen to the collective voice of Nevada.” Ah, Harry Reid, you couldn’t be more right. The Senate Majority Leader again voiced his anti-Yucca Mountain sentiments a few days ago, claiming the dump is wrong and saying, “We will not accept it.” Reid made these statements after 4,000 Nevadans filed a petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and Nevada officials “contend nuclear waste cannot be safely stored at Yucca Mountain for the thousands of years envisioned by the government.” First of all, only 4,000 …
Clean energy and “going green” is quite the trend nowadays. Yet, few people actually know how their electricity is generated. To educate the average electricity consumer, The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has an interactive electricity power profiler that will: Determine your power grid region based on your ZIP code and electric utility. Compare the fuel mix (coal, nuclear, gas, or hydro) and air emissions rates of the electricity in your region to the national average. Determine the air emissions impacts of electricity use in your home or business. In addition, …
Here is what’s happening this week in Washington: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBO_SV-cgF0 [/youtube] Sixteen months ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the surge in Iraq “is not accomplishing anything.” Today there is almost unanimous agreement that the surge has been a tremendous success. Ben Lieberman and Nick Loris wrote this week that Congress should not repeat the mistakes of the 1970s in energy policy. There are many energy bills currently pending before Congress, and they fall into two general categories: Those that seek to increase domestic energy supplies. Those that seek scapegoats …
