By Zayida Baker Former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Broward County, wants to oust incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, in November. To win the Republican primary, LeMieux must first shed his image as a “Charlie Crist Republican” beholden to green energy. LeMieux served in the Senate from September 2009 to January 2011, after being appointed by…

By Zayida Baker Republican candidate and former Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, asked a Perry audience January 23 to send him to the U.S. Senate. He decided days later to switch races. At a meeting hosted by the Taylor County Republican Executive Committee, Hasner proclaimed that he wanted to win the Senate…

In 2011 Sen. Chambliss, R-Ga., introduced four bills, three for public laws and one for a rare, private law. The three public bills would modify statutes dealing with terrorist detainees, the national tax system, and the visa program for agricultural guest workers. A separate article describes the private bill which names a man and would grant…

Uncommon secrecy surrounds this uncommon immigration bill. Senate bill S.335 states, “Notwithstanding…the Immigration and Nationality Act…Salah Naji Sujaa shall be eligible for…adjustment of status to lawful permanent resident.” Sen. Chambliss, R-Ga., introduced the bill in February 2011. Mr. Sujaa’s name is the only information about him in this one-page, private bill. When requested, Chambliss’ staff…

Congress uses gimmicks in the federal budget to fool the public.  Congress labels ordinary expenses as “emergency” spending, overstates project costs then shifts the excess elsewhere, increases federal salaries after promising pay freezes, and shifts expenditure dates in order to claim money savings or offsets. In a statement released October 2011, Sen. Olympia Snowe, (R-ME),…

Senator Mark Udall, (D-CO) visited communities in southeastern Colorado to talk about the economy and local issues. On Friday, January 13, Udall met with the residents in the Arkansas Valley to focus on ways to bolster the local economy. On Friday morning, Jan. 13, Udall toured the Rocky Ford site of Innovative Water Technologies, a…

President Obama defied Senate leaders Wednesday with his a recess appointment of Richard Cordray as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) without Senate confirmation while the Senate was still in session. Although the President has the right under the U.S. Constitution to bypass the confirmation process if the Senate is in recess, the…

Discovering Michael Bennet, Senator from Colorado Sen. Michael F. Bennet’s voting record shows that he has voted for record spending and national debt. Bennet voted for the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more commonly known as the “stimulus” or the “Recovery Act,” which is the largest spending bill in U.S. history….

By Zayida Baker Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., chaired a September hearing of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility that prescribed a tax code with more taxpayers, lower rates and fewer loopholes—a platform that he and Democrats often contradict. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, Professor Martin Feldstein, former Michigan Gov. John Engler, Professor John Taylor, and…

Fixing No Child Left Behind By Lisa Nancollas Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., supports proposed legislation to reform No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and further involve the federal government in elementary and secondary education. The bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pension. Casey, who is a member…