For Supreme Court pick, Obama chooses minority over quality

It's no surprise that President Obama would pick a Latina to be the next Supreme Court Justice. After all, it would re-affirm his commitment to fill more positions with minorities. But is Sonia Sotomayor the right choice as a Justice in our highest court? Is the President blinded by his desire to "diversify" the Supreme Court with a nomination of an unqualified person?

Although New York Senators Charles Shumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, both Democrats, highly recommended Sotomayor in a letter to President Obama in April 2009, her experience and qualification warrant closer scrutiny. In particular, her six out of seven cases were reviewed and reversed by the Supreme Court. I wouldn't call that the result of an exemplary legal mind?

Republicans are preparing for a challenge to the nomination, but some have cautioned that grilling her in the Senate confirmation hearing would alienate even more Hispanic voters. The GOP should start focusing on getting conservative Hispanics on board to spread the opposition message. After all, the President's message is clear: He wants to place an activist judge in the Supreme Court. And it's a danger when a Justice would disrespect the Constitution for personal agenda.

Blago-gate turns into Burris-gate

The drama never ends in Chicago, and it's looking worse for Democrats. FBI wiretaps reveal how Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), appointed by disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill Obama's seat, wanted to send money to Blagojevich in order to win favors before all hell broke loose.

It's embarrassing that the Democrats even seated Burris to the Senate after all the controversy of his appointment. Now we know there was something definitely shady going on.

Crist not popular among conservatives

With the imminent announcement of Gov. Charlie Crist's (R-FL) decision to run for Senate, out comes the waves of criticism from conservatives. Whether or not you are a fan of Crist, you should be happy that a prominent Republican (albeit RINO?) is coming out to bid for the seat.

Hopefully a conservatives-approved Republican will come out to challenge Crist, like state House Speaker Marco Rubio. At least thank Crist for bringing the Senate race from Florida into the national spotlight, and for uniting conservatives behind somebody like Rubio should he decide to enter the race as well.

Crist to run for Senate

Good news coming out from Florida today: Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will announce on Tuesday that he'll run for Senate. In light of Sen. Mel Martinez's (R) retirement, this is great news for the Republicans as Crist enjoys high approval ratings in the state.

Specter not doing so well as a Democrat

Sen. Alen Specter (D-PA) isn't doing very well as a new Democrat. Did Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) promise him seniority upon departing the Republican Party? Well, it isn't happening! Specter's Democrat peers aren't granting him the seniority as he'd hoped for. Now he'll just be a senate junior Democrat, his influence greatly limited. His peers want to see how he performs in his 2010 re-election before giving him the perks.

It's becoming evident that Specter's career may not improve even with his jump to the Democrat Party. Had he remained a Republican to face Pat Toomey in the Republican primary for 2010, he'll likely lose but at least his he wouldn't have been seen as so self-serving. Now as a Democrat, he may still face an uphill battle as Republicans galvanize and gather resources to defeat him in Pennsylvania.

We'll know in 2010 whether this move becomes Specter's biggest career mistake.

Some Democrats already upset at Specter

After leaving the Republican Party, Sen. Arlen Specter may not find many friends yet among Senate Democrats. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made a deal with Specter to allow him to carryover his seniority years to the new party, and that's upsetting some high ranking Democrats. You see, nobody likes the person who cuts in line. Worse yet, nobody likes the person who allows a line cutter!

Will Reid be able to hold the caucus together? My take is that Reid's leadership style is already unpopular among several Democrats, and they will be heard soon enough when more voting comes.

Don't over-analyze Specter's departure

Meghan McCain blogs about her disappointment upon Sen. Arlen Specter decision to jump ship to the Democrat Party. According to her:

Of course, this speaks to much larger problem in the GOP. We need to attract more centrist and progressive conservative voters at the primary level, so that level-headed candidates stand a chance. We need courageous Republicans more than ever. And this week, Sen. Specter turned his back. But he wasn’t the only one.

She then turns the attention to RNC Chair Michael Steele's statement on Specter's departure:

Some in the Republican Party are happy about this. I am not. Let’s be honest—Senator Specter didn’t leave the GOP based on principles of any kind. He left to further his personal political interests because he knew that he was going to lose a Republican primary due to his left-wing voting record. Republicans look forward to beating Sen. Specter in 2010, assuming the Democrats don’t do it first.

Sorry, Ms. McCain, but Steele is right on. There's no need to over-analyze the senator's decision to join the Democratic majority in Washington. Sen. Specter did it to save his career -- and there's nothing wrong with that, especially in this economy and political environment. What rubs conservatives and most Republicans the wrong way, however, is his insulting reasoning:

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.

When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.

Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.

I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.

His statement sounds principled, but don't be fooled: this man knew he doesn't stand a chance in his re-election bid in 2010 as a Republican. Not to mention the fact that he's been actively recruited by V.P. Joe Biden and the Democrats are showering favors on him for completing the 60-seat filibuster-proof Senate majority (after Al Franken is seated). President Obama promptly called him to welcome him and promised to help his re-election campaign. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has agreed to allow Specter to keep his seniority and therefore eligible to chair some important committees.

All this clearly shows Sen. Specter representing the constituency of himself.

Sen. Alan Specter to switch parties

The RINO Senator from Pennsylvania will change his party affiliation to the Democrats. After Al Franken (D-MN) gets seated, Sen. Specter will give the Democrats their filibuster proof majority of 60. Sen. Specter is a walking case study in political expediency.

But it's really no surprise. His voting record shows more similarities to the Democrats' than Republicans. His state has turned bluer in recent years so if he wishes to remain a career politician, he doesn't have much choice but to turn Democrat.

Good riddance for the GOP, but the timing is troublesome during this time when the Democrats have a stronghold on Washington. There's no doubt in my mind that with this move Sen. Specter is also angling to become a superstar among the Democrats by gifting them the 60-seat majority.

Not again! Politicians want to save newspapers...

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) wants to save his local newspaper, the Boston Globe, which is losing $1 million a week. So much so that he's called a Senate hearing on the matter.

Banks, automobile manufacturers, insurance companies, and now dying newspapers? Is that really what the constituents are demanding?

Sham bill: D.C. House Voting Rights Act

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is sponsoring this bill, along with a bunch of other Democratic Senators and a couple of RINOs, to give the people of Washington, D.C. a House representative because their voices need to be heard blah-blah-blah...

Never mind that Article I Section 2 of the Constitution clearly states that only states can have members in the House:

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

D.C. is not a state. D.C. does not have a state legislature. So why are Congressmen sponsoring such a bill which blatantly violates the Supreme Law of the Land? I mean, how can this even be constitutional if passed?

Successful D.C. voucher program killed, of course it doesn't affect Obama's kids

The D.C. school voucher program has been a success story in the country's often grim education system. This program allows disadvantaged D.C. children in failing schools to attend others to get a good education.

But the Senate killed the program. Worse yet, the White House and senators knew from a report how successful the D.C. program has been, and they delayed the release of the report until after killing the program.

The children of these politicians, including the First Daughters, won't be affected by this for obvious reasons. Poor minority kids are the ones who will suffer. Whatever happened to President Obama's promise on improving education for all children?

Blame the teacher's unions. Blame their lobbyists. Blame their cozy relations with the Democrats. Blame those Democratic Senators whose only concern is staying in power -- not the welfare of children.

Keeping score at the White House

President Obama to Rep. Peter DeFazio: "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother."

It's a subtle warning to the Congressman about his vote against the stimulus bill, and a reminder that this White House keeps tabs on such breaks with the administration.

Will this turn off some Democratic House and Senate members? When Obama was elected, both House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke out publicly that they do not work for the President, so I wonder if they are keeping score on the White House, too?

GOP distancing from Gov. Palin?

Should some staff members of Gov. Palin's office be fired? Or is there a deeper meaning in all of this? The annual Senate-House GOP dinner to be held in June now turns to Newt Gingrich as its keynote speaker instead of the Alaskan governor.

Hopefully this is just an amateurish mistake made between her PAC and her staff in the governor's office. The GOP should not distance itself from the former V.P. nominee. She still has star power and a loyal following among conservatives.

Stimulus bill allowed executive bonuses

The fury over AIG executive bonuses is now snowballing towards the White House, Congress, and all those in between who'd voted for the stimulus bill. Apparently the infamous stimulus allowed for executive bonuses that so many are ticked off about. And the man who's receiving most of the finger pointing? None other than Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), who happens to be the top recipient of AIG political contribution (then Sen. Obama is #2). Sen. Dodd is being blamed for inserting the executive compensation clause into the stimulus bill, and believe it or not, he's blaming Obama for requesting it!

Oh goodie, in-fighting among top Democrats...

Anyone with a "D" next to their written names is staying as far away from this mess as possible. Nobody wants to be near Sen. Dodd, Tim Geithner, or even President Obama these days. What AIG CEO Edward Liddy went through recently is nothing compared to what's going to happen in the Hill.

There's been calls for Geithner's resignation. I'm sure these calls are going to turn into a chorus pretty soon.

AIG a top Obama political contributor

This whole show from President Obama and his crew on the AIG bonuses sickens me. Not only has the administration showed its anti-capitalistic nature with executive pay limits and crying foul about bonuses, but the mainstream media isn't covering the fact that AIG contributed big money to Sens. Chris Dodd and Barack Obama.

Now the W.H. claims it didn't know about these bonuses until March. But wait, I thought this administration is all about transparency! The government gave monetary aid to AIG last fall. Is the W.H. saying that nobody keeps track of any of this money?

Nationalized "green" power grid

Green technology is great. There's nothing wrong with harnessing wind and the sun to power our nation. I'm all for encouraging the private sector to do all that R&D and trade those kilowatts. But Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) wants a nationalized "green" power grid which the federal government dictates where to put it and how to pay for it.

The Democrats wants to ration health care. Now it wants to ration electricity?!

Are you starting to see the perils of this administration and the liberal Democrats? Wake. Up. NOW.

Obama to name tech advisor as FCC chair

Julius Genachowski, a former Harvard Law School classmate of the president and technology adviser during Obama's campaign, will be named to chair the Federal Communications Commission. The position requires a Senate confirmation, so let's hope there aren't any skeletons in the Genachowski closet (especially unpaid taxes).

Sen. Bunning threatens own GOP

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY) isn't too happy with his leadership discouraging him to run for re-election in 2010. Allegedly the Senator from Kentucky is threatening to resign and allow the state's Democratic governor to appoint a replacement. God forbid if that happens because we'll be looking at a Democratic super-majority of 60 seats in the Senate. The GOP definitely doesn't need a distraction like this right now...

Another Obama nominee nailed by taxes

This is becoming absurd! Ron Kirk, the President's pick for U.S. Trade Representative, failed to pay nearly $10,000 in taxes according to the Senate Finance Committee.

Next?

A victory for free speech

The Senate does something right by banning the FCC from reimposing the Fairness Doctrine.