By Zayida Baker Retired Army Col. Mike McCalister, R-Plant City, is running to replace Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and be “the last line of defense” against politicians who do not properly protect the U.S. and its Constitution. McCalister spoke June 18 at the Republican Leadership Conference. In November he debated competitors at the Florida Tea…

On December 14, 2011, the Senate rejected two proposals for a Balanced Budget Amendment. In a strong partisan display, Republican-sponsored proposal SJ Res 10 was defeated by a Democratic majority vote of 53-46, shortly after the proposal sponsored by Sen. Mark Udall, D-CO, SJ Res 24 was also defeated. A strong proponent of passing the…

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) opposed the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) rush to regulate the internet by voting in November to advance a resolution of disapproval (S.J.RES.6).  But Senate Democrats voted it down. Democrats blocked S.J.RES.6 on November 10.  Fifty-two Democrats voted “no,” and 46 Republicans voted “yes.”  Net neutrality activists raised cartoon fists in solidarity…

Remembered by some as the Republican who joined the Democrats with a vote for last year’s healthcare bill, Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe helped write the bill, which emerged late in 2009 from the Senate Finance Committee.  (Although she voted for it in committee to advance it to the Senate floor, she actually voted against the…

Senator Patty Murray, (D-WA) Blames Republicans for the Problem Larry Killion Tea Party Patriot Citizen Journalist. 7/15/11 Washington State Senator Patty Murray, Democrat, says that the U.S. Debt is the fault of the Republicans. She believes the purpose for her being there with them today in the House and Senate is to put together a…

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) has announced his support for executive actions recently proposed by the Obama Administration and Federal Housing Finance Agency, which would aid millions of borrowers with non-delinquent but “underwater” Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac-backed mortgages to refinance their mortgages at historically low interest rates. The proposed Obama plan draws many elements…

Senator John Cornyn, R-TX and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been out in front of the failed Operation Fast and Furious, a federal operation launched to track sales of illegal weapons, since the story broke. The operation resulted in the possession of thousands of American weapons by Mexican drug cartels and in the…

One of Georgia’s senators cosponsored an amendment to raise the federal home-loan guarantee limit, and both voted for it.  Georgia’s Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, crossed the aisle October 20 to provide necessary votes for a measure to increase Fannie’s and Freddie’s limits for home loan guarantees. The amendment to an appropriations bill required the support of…

By Zayida Baker Republican senatorial candidates former Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., former Florida House of Representatives Majority Leader Adam Hasner, businessman Craig Miller, and retired Army Col. Mike McCalister are courting conservatives in a wide-open primary to challenge incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., in 2012. The four faced off August 20 in a two-hour Orlando…

By Zayida Baker Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., voted October 11 for President Obama’s jobs bill, a $447 billion package meant to stimulate the economy with infrastructure spending and job-creation. The bill failed to win a filibuster-proof majority. After Obama touted it as his “jobs bill” in a primetime address to Congress and the nation September…