tagged w/ Republican Values
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On Martin Bashir’s program on Tuesday Rep. Charles Rangel put things as clearly as anyone when he said, “The President was mugged”. I would like to add that the American people were mugged also. This appears to be the case. I have been a Democrat from the beginning of a long lifetime and that is not about to change, but I am very frustrated with most of the deals President Obama has cut, at least in appearance. I get upset by the appearance that President Obama has not given an address to the nation without appearing to support Republican ideas and appearing to chastise Democratic views. This appearance needs to change before he can be re-elected. Way back when, Hubert Humphrey moved toward the center to try to gain votes for the Presidency. The Democratic base got mad and stayed home, the country elected Richard Nixon. Do we really want a President Bachmann or Perry?
This debt-ceiling debacle was indeed, as Rep. Emanual Cleaver called it a “Satan Sandwich”. Somebody out there voted for these Tea Party thugs, someone does need to tell these people not to do it again, please. What were they thinking?
Only President Obama can change how he appears, that’s his responsibility. I, for one, am going to vote for him even if I am angry. Again, I know what happens when Democrats stay home on Election Day. There are two things that are going to happen, without any doubt:
1. Republicans will come out to vote.
2. Republicans will lie, unmercifully.
We all know what Republicans are. We all know what Republicans do. We all know that Boehner said he got ninety eight percent of what he wanted. It is up to us to see to it that he gets ninety eight percent of the blame for the debt-ceiling debacle.
During this Republican generated crisis there was one group that was quite conspicuous by its absence for the most part. Where the heck were the Democrats? It appears that they did not really support the President or the People. After all, it really was the responsibility of the congress to craft this deal. It appears that the Republicans were playing chess with the President and keep away with the Democrats while the Democrats were playing hot potato with themselves. The Democrats need to figure out what game they are playing and with whom. We have a Democratic President. He needs the Democrats to have his back, so that he can have the room to change appearances.
The Republican bigots and liars have been emboldened recently. Their obvious coded racism is moving quickly to outright racial slurs. Keep your eyes on McConnell, it is getting tough for him not to use his KKKisms in public.
The point is the Democrats need to get off of their hands and start leading. It’s going to be a tough election in 2012 for everyone. I for one have not given up. It’s tough not to cave, but somehow we have too persist, even if we are angry or discouraged.
The appearances got me for a time, but not for good.
We don’t have perfect candidates for 2012, but look at the alternatives.On Martin Bashir’s program on Tuesday Rep. Charles Rangel put things as clearly... more
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OldDem
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The Republicans want you to believe that they're concerned about the deficit. Of course, that concern is a lie. They don't care about the deficit. They only care about using the deficit as an excuse to pursue their extremist agenda. And the single most extreme part of it is their war on people. On workers. On women. On immigrants. On the environment that keeps us all healthy and alive. If they cared about the deficit itself, they'd have noticed that the previous three Republican presidents produced consecutively the largest deficits in human history, each outdoing his predecessor, and the most recent Republican president not merely shattering his father's unprecedented standard, but actually having to destroy the federal surplus built by a Democratic president in order to do so. An impressive feat, by any measure. But when Republicans talk about deficits, you know they are lying. Republicans destroy surpluses and create record deficits. That's the truth.
If Republicans cared about the deficit, they wouldn't have held middle-class tax cuts hostage for a ransom of tax cuts for the very wealthy, tax cuts that the very wealthy do not need. Tax cuts for the wealthy that won't create jobs or stimulate the economy. Tax cuts for the wealthy that added to the federal deficit, the same federal deficit Republicans now pretend to be so worried about that they need to slash and burn federal spending. Spending for such things as food assistance for low-income Americans, which Republicans want to cut even as they retain farm subsidies. Spending for such things as life-saving immunizations. Spending for such things as food and health assistance around the world, without which some 70,000 children could die. And not content to make Americans go hungry and die of preventable diseases, and for tens of thousands of children around the world to starve to death, rather than have the very wealthy pay more taxes, Republicans also have their "hearts" set on eliminating Medicare and eviscerating Medicaid. And they want to repeal the Obama health plan, even though doing so would make the deficit even worse.
Let's not pretend that Republicans actually care about the deficit. If they did, their approach in addressing it would be responsible and humane. Republicans don't care about the deficit. They only care about cutting government programs that help people in need. It's part of their larger agenda of blatant class warfare. Republicans prefer that millions of people suffer, and that at least tens of thousands of people die, rather than that the very wealthy once again pay the taxes that eliminated the previous Republican deficits to create the previous Democratic surplus. Leave it to the mental health professionals to diagnose the psychology of such values. If anyone can afford mental health professionals, with states now also in budget crises thanks to the genius of tax cuts.
But lest you think that Republicans don't have any spending priorities at all, keep in mind that they do want to use federal money, just so it is spent in pursuit of their Medieval social agenda. But that's just relative pocket change. While Republicans seem actually to want for people in need to suffer and die, they also want to throw unfathomably budget-busting pallets of cash at their favorite budget sinkhole. As reported by Ryan Grim:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/10/965103/-What-the-Republican-budget-plans-tell-us-about-Republican-valuesThe Republicans want you to believe that they're concerned about the deficit. Of... more
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Congressional Republicans have made it clear that they don't want to fund Planned Parenthood, but at least one thinks the federal government should be funding anti-abortion activists, Mother Jones reports. Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns introduced a measure that would provide federal funds to crisis pregnancy centers, clinics—often run by religious groups—that attempt to steer women away from abortion. Stearns has written of his opposition to federal funding of Planned Parenthood in the past, citing a need to "reduce or eliminate" federal expenditures "that do not meet the needs of the American people."
Stearns' bill would provide grants to purchase sonogram machines to nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations—so long as they show every woman an ultrasound image, describe the fetus to them, and provide them with "alternatives to abortion." The organizations must also provide services free, which would disqualify Planned Parenthood from applying for the funds. At least one Democratic rep has called Stearns' bill "hypocrisy in its most obvious form." Click for more on crisis pregnancy centers, which Mother Jones says have been found to distribute false information in some cases.
http://www.newser.com/story/115077/gops-cliff-stearns-proposes-law-to-fun-anti-abortion-activists.htmlCongressional Republicans have made it clear that they don't want to fund Planned... more
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What is the limit on how much money is enough for Rick Scott?
Greed and corruption are not just whims to Scott; apparently it’s his entire lifestyle.
In a State with one of the largest populations of citizens over 65, Republicans and the New Governor are taking painstaking efforts to assure that the elderly and disabled have little to no chance of protecting their health.
Scott obviously knows at this point that he is a one term Governor. Before his term is done, he intends to damage and defund Florida’s social programs at the expense of and its people while further enriching himself and his wealthy friends.
This move to ‘reform’ Medicaid has nothing to do with the budget. Scott and Florida Republicans are currently trying to enact a sweeping Medicaid reform bill that would give HMOs and other private health care companies unprecedented control over the government health care program for the poor.
The bill would also put a hard cap on the amount of money that these managed care companies could spend on Medicaid, which advocates say could particularly harm disabled and elderly patients who require costlier long-term care.
Scott’s new Medicaid reforms will basically force Public employees and people receiving food stamps, welfare or any other social financial aid to visit his Wife’s company (Solantic) for drug testing before they would be considered eligible for these programs or for public employment.
The Florida governor founded Solantic in 2001, only a few years after he resigned as the CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA amid a massive Medicare fraud scandal. In January, he transferred his $62 million stake in Solantic to his wife, Ann Scott. The Medicaid bill that Scott is now pushing would expand the pilot privatization program to the entire state of Florida, offering Solantic a huge new business opportunity. It’s difficult to believe the transfer of Solantic before he took office and the push for Medicaid ‘reform’ is a coincidence.
Casting himself as a free-market champion, Scott put his opposition to "Obamacare" at the heart of his campaign. But he could ultimately stand to gain from one of the federal government's biggest entitlements—a program that's also set to expand massively under the Affordable Care Act. Concludes Georgetown's Alker: "It's especially ironic when people who speak out against government involvement in health care turn around and profit from it."
"This is a conflict of interest that raises a serious ethical issue," says Marc Rodwin, a medical ethics professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. "The public should be thinking and worrying about this."
Once the damage is done will Florida ever have the funds to reinstate Medicaid back to where it stood before Scott executed his war on the neediest citizens of Florida?
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/rick-scott-florida-medicaid-solanticWhat is the limit on how much money is enough for Rick Scott?
Greed and corruption... more
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Here are some of the things your House of Representatives did early this morning:
* Voted to strip funding from just about every EPA project, including air quality, emissions, and water pollution monitoring.
* Defunded NOAA
* Stripped funds to administer the Affordable Care Act.
* Eliminated funds for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
* Continued $53 billion in oil subsidies
* Tried to eliminate Davis-Bacon rules for government projects (that failed)
* Stripped federal workers of their salaries in positions within agencies targeted for defunding
Of course, yesterday they defunded Planned Parenthood, FCC allocations for enforcement of Net Neutrality rules, and the entire Affordable Care Act.
They also managed to pass a budget 235-189 after the sorriest bunch of bullsh*t debate this writer has ever observed. The vote was down party lines, with the exception of 3 Republicans who voted against it. The most entertaining part of the whole entire screwed-up process was watching Republicans make love to Big Oil while the whole world watched.
Oh, note to the Tea Party...hahahahaha!!!! They only managed to cut $60 billion. Broken promises, broken promises. And so soon in your young reign of terror.
I hope it was good for them. I felt screwed without even so much as a kiss on the cheek.
With that said, all props to Rosa DeLauro for her 3AM rant with energy, passion and focus. Enjoy that moment. There weren't all that many.Here are some of the things your House of Representatives did early this morning:... more
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Rep. Chris Lee of New York abruptly resigned Wednesday evening, hours after a gossip Web site reported that the married Republican had allegedly sent flirtatious e-mail messages and a shirtless photo of himself to a woman he met online.Rep. Chris Lee of New York abruptly resigned Wednesday evening, hours after a gossip... more
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There's no shortage of seemingly unhinged Senate candidates out there, but who's the craziest of them all? The Daily Beast has compiled a "Wingnuts Index," judging the Senate hopefuls on criteria including belief in conspiracy theories, special interest-driven voting records, and incidents where the candidates have been called out for lying. Among its Top 15:
* Nevada Republican Sharron Angle takes first place, helped along by her claim that Sharia law has taken over a Texas town.
* South Carolina Republican and RINO-hunter extraordinaire Jim DeMint, rumored to be planning a White House bid, is ranked second, largely for his "unrepentant social conservatism."
* Calling it a sign of just how crazy this campaign season has become, the Daily Beast awards not first or second but third place to Delaware's Christine O'Donnell, famed for dabbling in witchcraft and labeling evolution a myth.
* At seventh, California's Barbara Boxer is highest-ranking wingnut from the left. Boxer—who claimed opponent Carly Fiorina’s anti-abortion beliefs translate into "women and doctors in jail"—has managed to become a polarizing figure even in her reliably Democratic home state.
Click here for the full list. http://www.newser.com/story/102638/sharron-angle-tops-wingnuts-index.htmlThere's no shortage of seemingly unhinged Senate candidates out there, but... more
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As for 2012, Marianne Gingrich shared her take on speculation swirling over the possibility of Newt Gingrich making a run for the White House in the next election cycle. The bottom line, she said, is that "there's no way" he'll be president.
"He could have been president," she explained. "But when you try and change your history too much, and try and recolor it because you don't like the way it was or you want it to be different to prove something new . . . you lose touch with who you really are. You lose your way."
Marianne Gingrich suggested that her ex-husband "believes that what he says in public and how he lives don't have to be connected" and added, "If you believe that, then yeah, you can run for president. ... He always told me that he's always going to pull the rabbit out of the hat."
Gingrich's second wife zeroed-in on what she suggested might be her ex-husband's achilles' heel:
"He was impressed easily by position, status, money," she says. "He grew up poor and always wanted to be somebody, to make a difference, to prove himself, you know.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/10/newt-gingrichs-ex-wife-go_n_676834.htmlAs for 2012, Marianne Gingrich shared her take on speculation swirling over the... more
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They groped. They skirt-chased. They lusted in their hearts. And now they will live in infamy
Whether politicians cheat is hardly even a question. Why politicians cheat is a question that will never have a satisfactory answer. But which politicians have had the most spectacular, messiest, craziest affairs? That we can get to the bottom of. Philandering is as old as marriage itself, but the twenty-five instances listed here all have some variation on the theme that makes them notable even in the perpetually randy confines of the Beltway. Obviously the list is not exhaustive; as long as there are politicians, it'll never be complete.
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201006/the-twenty-five-greatest-philanderers-in-american-political-history#introThey groped. They skirt-chased. They lusted in their hearts. And now they will live in... more
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I have a handful of conservative friends. Not so many that I could be considered a sympathizer. Just a few.
Being friends with them isn't always easy, but maintaining the relationships make me feel better about myself. After all - if I can look past something as ominous as conflicting political views - I must be a truly enlightened individual, right?
So we eat lunch together. We go out for drinks. One of them gave me a handjob. It's fine.
Yesterday, while sitting with a group of the right-wingers, I hear: "It's a fact. The people of Massachusetts have spoken."
Of course that person was referring to the GOP special election win by Scott Brown, the new pickup-driving Senator and former pin-up model, who had enough decency to cover up his junk but not his tangled mess of pubic hair in an '82 edition of Cosmo:
So - right then and there - I decided to drop a bombshell on their elephant-loving asses.
"Facts are for suckers," I said. "I don't believe in them."
The group let out a boisterous laugh. The handjobber blushed. Surely she hoped it was just another one of my super-engaging conversation starters.
"What is that supposed to mean?" someone asked. "It doesn't even make sense."
"Doesn't it?" I challenged back. "You show me a fact and I'll show you someone trying to prove a point. Facts are for suckers. I believe in the truth. It's universal."
Their collective jaw dropped. The Sereno legend lives on.
And it's no joke. Facts are bullshit. They're used to motivate people and support points of view. The next time you hear someone say "in fact ...," listen to what follows. It'll no doubt be a direct attack on what you know to be true.
On Dragnet, when Joe Friday asked for "just the facts, ma'am," did he get the truth? No. He received a borderline-useless eyewitness account of what happened. The whole show was spent searching through the misleading facts that plagued his investigation.
When the FDA releases facts on cigarette smoking is it to fuel its own agenda? Yep. That agenda may be loosening the stranglehold tobacco has on the United States, but it's still an agenda. And it'd be nowhere without those eye-opening and strategically-placed facts.
... So is it a fact? Have the people of Massachusetts spoken? Depends who you ask. As for me, I'll be sipping a margarita and floating in a pool of the truth. You should join me.
There isn't a gratuitous pubic hair in sight.I have a handful of conservative friends. Not so many that I could be considered a... more
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“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard, according to a blog post by a member of the magazine’s staff, with the headline “Obama loses! Obama loses!” Rush Limbaugh declared himself “gleeful.” “World Rejects Obama,” gloated the Drudge Report. And so on.
But more important, the episode illustrated an essential truth about the state of American politics: at this point, the guiding principle of one of our nation’s two great political parties is spite pure and simple. If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it — whether or not it’s good for America.
.. we learned that the modern conservative movement, which dominates the modern Republican Party, has the emotional maturity of a bratty 13-year-old.“Cheers erupted” at the headquarters of the conservative Weekly Standard,... more
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Did we really need Jimmy Carter to tell us that racism is one of the driving forces behind the relentless and often scurrilous attacks on President Obama? We didn’t know that? As John McEnroe might say, “You can’t be serious.
“There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president,” said Mr. Carter. I guess he was aiming his remarks at those who contended when Mr. Obama was elected that we had achieved some Pollyannaish postracial society. But it’s hard to imagine, after all the madness and vitriol of the past few months, that anyone still believes that.
For many white Americans, Barack Obama is nothing more than that black guy in the White House, and they want him out of there.we have Sherri Goforth, an aide to a Republican state senator in Tennessee sending out a mass e-mail of a cartoon showing dignified portraits of the first 43 presidents, and then representing the 44th — President Obama — as a spook, a cartoonish pair of white eyes against a black background.
When a gorilla escaped from a zoo in Columbia, S.C., a longtime Republican activist, Rusty DePass, described it on his Facebook page as one of Michelle Obama’s ancestors.
Among the posters at last weekend’s gathering of conservative protesters in Washington was one that said, “The zoo has an African lion and the White House has a lyin’ African.”
These are bits and pieces of an increasingly unrestrained manifestation of racism directed toward Mr. Obama that is being fed by hate-mongers on talk radio and is widely tolerated, if not encouraged, by Republican Party leaders. It’s disgusting, and it’s dangerous. But it’s the same old filthy racism that has been there all along and that has been exploited by the G.O.P. since the 1960s.
I have no patience with those who want to pretend that racism is not an out-and-out big deal in the United States, as it always has been. We may have made progress, and we may have a black president, but the scourge is still with us. And if you needed Jimmy Carter to remind you of that, then you’ve been wandering around with your eyes closed.
Glenn Beck, one of the moronic maestros of right-wing radio and TV, assures us that President Obama “has a deep-seated hatred for white people.” Some years ago, as the watchdog group Media Matters for America points out on its Web site, Beck said he’d like to beat Representative Charles Rangel “to death with a shovel.”
There is nothing new about this racist rhetoric. Back in the 1970s Rush Limbaugh told a black caller: “Take that bone out of your nose and call me back.”
But the fact that a black man is now in the White House has so unsettled much of white America that the lid is coming off the racism that had been simmering at dangerously high temperatures all along. Eric Boehlert, a senior fellow with Media Matters, said, “If someone had told me in February that there would be mainstream allegations that Obama was a racist and a fascist and a communist and a Nazi, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
Republicans have been openly feeding off of race hatred since the days of Dick Nixon. Today’s conservative activists are carrying that banner proudly. What does anybody think is going on when, as Anderson Cooper pointed out on CNN, one of the leaders of the so-called tea party movement, Mark Williams, refers to the president of the United States as an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug, and a racist in chief.
After all these years of race-baiting and stirring the pot of hatred for political gain, it’s too much to ask the leaders of the Republican Party to step forward and denounce this spreading stain of reprehensible conduct. Republicans are trying to ride that dependable steed of bigotry back to power.Did we really need Jimmy Carter to tell us that racism is one of the driving forces... more
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South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has cleared his schedule this week to take a personal trip with his wife, three weeks after announcing his extramarital affair with an Argentine woman, his office announced Wednesday.
Sanford is taking off the rest of the week for a trip out of state with first lady Jenny Sanford, spokesman Joel Sawyer said.
"This trip is personal in nature, and we're not going to offer any further comment," said Sawyer, who said the couple will be gone through this coming weekend. "The governor remains committed to repairing the damage he's done to his marriage, and so it shouldn't be any surprise that spending personal time with his wife is a part of that process."
The couple's four sons will not be with them on the trip, Sawyer said.
Sanford disappeared over Father's Day weekend, without his staff or security detail knowing his whereabouts. Upon his return June 24, he confessed he had been in Argentina with his mistress and he had misled his staff to think he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford has cleared his schedule this week to take a personal... more
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Gov. Mark Sanford's admission to an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina has sparked a debate within the backchannels of the GOP over how strongly the party should emphasize morality and religion going forward.
For decades, the GOP has used issues like respect for the sanctity of marriage and the notion of family values as a key component of its political platform and a point of divergence between Republicans and Democrats. A series of sex scandals involving high-ranking officials, however, has drastically altered that equation. And now some strategists are questioning whether the party should rethink the way it emphasizes these matters.Gov. Mark Sanford's admission to an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina... more
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A former Georgia congressman has been charged with conspiracy and telling lies in an alleged campaign contribution scheme linked to a 2005 Atlanta city council election.
Former Rep. Pat Swindall was charged Tuesday in a state court with one count of conspiracy to commit a crime and four counts of false statements. Two of his business associates also were charged.
Authorities said Swindall arranged to contribute $8,000 to a city councilwoman through eight 'conduit donors,' each of whom appeared to give the maximum allowable contribution of $1,000. The councilwoman, Joyce Sheperd, is accused of no wrongdoing and said she plans to return the money.
Swindall, who served two terms in Congress as a Republican in the 1980s, could not immediately be reached for comment.A former Georgia congressman has been charged with conspiracy and telling lies in an... more
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S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport this morning, having wrapped up a seven-day visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina, he said.
more in the link...S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford arrived in Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International... more
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Thursday, June 11, 2009
Fox News- Corporate Office
1211 Avenue of the America’s (sic)
New York, New York 10036
Megyn Kelly,
More than any time in my life I understand why people take matters into their own hands. I am disheartened! I have sought wise counsel, tried to do the right thing and continue to run into road blocks (sic) in dealing with a very terrible circumstance and injustice that lives in my life. I am hoping you and Fox News can help.
My name is Doug Hampton. I am a former employee of US (sic) Senator John Ensign. I worked for Senator Ensign in his official government office on Capitol Hill from November 2006 to April 2008. My responsibilities were the oversight of his personnel in Washington as well as the state of Nevada. Duties included budgets, policy and public speaking on behalf of the Senator and his initiatives.
Here is my story. In December of 2007 in the midst of some very difficult personal issues that deeply impacted my family and marriage, Senator Ensign pursued and engaged in a relationship with my wife. Our families were lifelong friends, our children attend school together to this day, and our homes are in neighborhoods across from each other. My wife was the Senator’s campaign treasurer.
There is a tremendous amount (sic) of details and critical facts associated with this story and their relationship that will not be addressed in this letter but are very important and need to be further explored if you choose to meet with me. The purpose of this letter is to establish the framework for discussion and provide enough information to warrant a meeting with you and Fox News. This is the only letter of its kind and no other news stations have been contacted with this information. I have great respect and affection for Fox News and many of your collages (sic). I’m sending this to you because you have a legal back ground (sic) and this story has several legal elements.
The unethical behavior and immoral choice of Senator Ensign has been confronted by me and others on a number of occasions over this past year. In fact one of the confrontations took place in February 2008 at his home in Washington DC (sic) with a group of his peers. One of the attendee’s (sic) was Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma as well as several other men who are close to the Senator. Senator Ensign’s conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008. I would like to say he stopped his heinous conduct and pursuit upon our leaving, but that was not the case and his actions did not subside until August of 2008.
The actions of Senator Ensign have ruined our lives and careers and left my family in shambles. We have lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery. Our pursuit of justice continues to place me and my family in harm’s way as we fear for our well being (sic).
Today, Senator Ensign’s responsibility and stature have increased within the US (sic) Senate. His is currently the head of “Policy” for the Republican Party, the number four position within the Parties (sic) leadership team. We on the other hand are completely ruined and left to deal with the aftermath of very evil and completely unjustifiable acts by one of our countries (sic) top leaders.
Cont.'d at linkThursday, June 11, 2009
Fox News- Corporate Office
1211 Avenue of the... more
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House Republicans want Iranian protesters to know that they feel their pain. After all, they've been there. According to Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.) and John Culberson (R-Tex.), the post-election uprising that has left at least 32 dead is just like when the GOP doesn't get its way on Capitol Hill.House Republicans want Iranian protesters to know that they feel their pain. After... more
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Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has stepped down from his leadership post one day after admitting he carried on a extra-marital affair with a woman who was on his campaign staff.
Ensign conveyed his decision in a phone call with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who said he had accepted the resignation.
Ensign was chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth-ranking spot in the leadership.
He remained away from the Capitol during the day, and aides declined to answer additional questions about the affair.
Ensign, a rising star in conservative circles and Nevada's most popular Republican, disclosed the affair at a hastily arranged news conference Tuesday, shattering his prospects for heading his party's ticket three years from now.
"Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage," Ensign told reporters, refusing to take any questions. "It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it."
Ensign, 51, belongs to the men's Christian ministry Promise Keepers, and has championed causes pushed by the Republican's conservative religious base.
Earlier this month, he went to Iowa, home to the nation's first presidential precinct caucuses, to speak as part of a conservative lecture series designed to define the Republican Party after its shattering defeat in last year's elections. Aides said the visit was about staking out a leadership position within the Republican Party.
"This really doesn't help a Republican Party that has tried to run as a party of family values," said Chuck Muth, a self-described conservative-libertarian activist. "It absolutely makes the party look hugely hypocritical."
Ensign did not disclose what prompted his decision to declare his infidelity.
Ensign's spokesman, Tory Mazzola, said the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008 with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign's Senate office.
In 2002, Ensign missed several public appearances and dropped official business for about two weeks to deal with what his aides then described as a family matter. A person familiar with that episode, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Tuesday the absence followed an earlier affair.
Ensign's admission complicates Republican Party efforts to unseat Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid, also from Nevada, in next year's midterm congressional elections.Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has stepped down from his leadership post one... more
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WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has stepped down from his leadership post one day after admitting he carried on a marital affair with a woman who was on his campaign staff.WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada has stepped down from his... more
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