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Hillary to head State: Is it constitutional?
Founding Fathers included clause that prevents Clinton appointment
wnd
By Drew Zahn
Barack Obama, it has been reported, intends to announce Sen. Hillary Clinton as his choice for secretary of state, an appointment America’s Founding Fathers forbade in the U.S. Constitution.
The constitutional quandary arises from a clause that forbids members of the Senate from being appointed to civil office, such as the secretary of state, if the “emoluments,” or salary and benefits, of the office were increased during the senator’s term.

The second clause of Article 1, Section 6, of the Constitution reads, “No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.”

During Clinton’s current term in the Senate, the salary for Cabinet officers was increased from $186,600 to $191,300. Since the salary is scheduled to again be raised in January 2009, not only Clinton but all sitting Senate members could be considered constitutionally ineligible to serve in Obama’s Cabinet.
James Madison’s notes on the debates that formed the Constitution explain the reason for the clause. Madison himself argued against “the evils” of corrupt governments where legislators created salaried positions – or increased the salary of positions – and then secured appointments to the cushy jobs they just created. Others agreed that such tactics were evident in Colonial and British government, and they wrote Article 1, Section 6 to prevent the practice.
Presidents in the past, however, have found a sometimes controversial way to skirt the clause and nonetheless fill their cabinet with constitutionally ineligible legislators.
In 1973, President Richard Nixon was able to appoint Sen. William B. Saxbe as his attorney general, despite the fact Saxbe was part of a Senate that nearly doubled Cabinet pay in 1969. Nixon convinced Congress to reduce Saxbe’s pay as attorney general to its pre-1969 levels.
The sidestep, since known as the “Saxbe fix,” was also used by President Taft in 1909, President Carter and President George H. W. Bush, who actually implemented the fix to enable Sen. Lloyd Bentsen to serve as treasury secretary for President Clinton’s incoming administration.
The so-called “fix,” however, has been criticized as perhaps honoring the spirit of the law but violating a clearly written statute of the Constitution.
In the 1973 case, the Washington Post reports, 10 senators, all Democrats, voted against Saxbe’s appointment on constitutional grounds. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., the only one of them who remains in the Senate, said at the time that the Constitution was explicit, and “we should not delude the American people into thinking a way can be found around the constitutional obstacle.”
“The content of the rule here is broader than its purpose,” Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, a constitutional law expert at St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, told MSNBC. “And the rule is the rule; the purpose is not the rule.”
“A ‘fix’ can rescind the salary,” Paulsen added, “but it cannot repeal historical events. The emoluments of the office had been increased. The rule specified in the text still controls.”
And at least one administration, that of President Ronald Reagan, chose to avoid the controversy of the Saxbe fix by striking Sen. Orrin Hatch from a short list of potential Supreme Court nominees because of Hatch’s ineligibility under Article 1, Section 6.
While questions remain about the constitutionality of the Saxbe fix in Clinton’s case, some bloggers – such as Professor Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law and Jack M. Balkin, professor of constitutional law at Yale – have pointed out that during her term of office, Clinton did not actually vote on an increase of Cabinet salaries. A 2008 executive order from President Bush created the increase, based on cost of living adjustments, leading some to argue that appointing Clinton doesn’t violate the spirit of the law in Article 1, Section 6.
Andrew Malcolm, whose blog is featured by the Los Angeles Times, however, believes the Constitution needs to be strictly followed.

“We’re not lawyers. But we do speak English,” Malcolm writes. “And to our eyes that constitutional clause doesn’t say anything about getting around the provision by reducing or not benefiting from the increase of said ‘Emoluments.'”

Malcolm continues, “It flat-out prohibits taking the civil office if the pay has been increased during the would-be appointee’s elected term. Period. Which it has.”

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Once again Barack Hussein Obama pushes the envelope of Constitutional Law. We shall have an unconstitutional and an undocumented worker as president and an unconstitutionally appointed Sec of State.

….Thank you Mark for sending this to me.

UPDATES:

AP
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton would make about $4,700 less as secretary of state than her predecessor, Condoleezza Rice.
Congress late Wednesday ( Dec. 10th) lowered the salary for the nation’s top diplomat to keep Clinton’s nomination from running afoul of the Constitution.
An obscure section on compensation for public officials, the Emoluments Clause, says that no member of Congress can be appointed to a government post if that job’s pay was increased during the lawmaker’s current term.

UPDATES:

Ineligibility Clause of Constitution Prohibits Clinton Appointment
Judicial Watch
Judicial Watch, raised the matter Tuesday with a statement asserting that Mrs. Clinton was ineligible to become secretary of state because of the so-called “Emoluments Clause” of the Constitution. By the end of the day, Senator Harry M. Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, was consulting with Republican colleagues in hopes of putting together a bill to address the issue.
Now let me explain what this is all about.
According to the “Emoluments” or “Ineligibility” Clause of the United States Constitution, no member of Congress can be appointed to an office that has benefited from a salary increase during the time that Senator or Representative served in Congress. A January 2008 Executive Order signed by President Bush during Hillary Clinton’s current Senate term increased the salary for Secretary of State, thereby rendering Senator Clinton ineligible for the position.

(Specifically, Article I, section 6 of the U.S. Constitution provides “No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time.” The provision is seen by most as designed by our Founding Fathers to protect against corruption.)

As The New York Times correctly points out, former President Richard Nixon did manage to circumvent this constitutional provision after appointing former Ohio Senator William Saxbe to the position of Attorney General. The Nixon administration forced legislation through Congress to reduce the salary for the position of Attorney General to the level that existed prior to Senator Saxbe’s appointment. This scheme, known thereafter as “The Saxbe Fix,” was also used to allow Senator Lloyd Bentsen to assume the position of Treasury Secretary under President Clinton.
Still, there has hardly been a consensus on the “Saxbe Fix” at the presidential level. President Ronald Reagan reportedly did not appoint Senator Orrin Hatch to the Supreme Court because of this emolument provision and rejected the “Saxbe Fix” as a legislative remedy. Why?
Because “The Saxbe Fix,” does not address the constitutional problem. This type of legislative “remedy” may reduce the salary of Secretary of State to previous levels, but it would not change the fact that the salary had been increased while Senator Clinton served in Congress. Simply put, the Constitution does not provide for a legislative remedy for the “Ineligibility Clause.”

Barack Obama was wrong to appoint Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State for a long list of reasons (some of which I referenced in last week’s update). But now that we know there are constitutional barriers to Hillary’s appointment, clearly Obama should select someone who is eligible for the position and save the country from a constitutional battle over her confirmation. No public official who has taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution should support this appointment.

As I wrote to you yesterday, now Hillary is attacking us. Her spokesman smeared us by calling us a “fringe group.” Why? For pointing out that the U.S. Constitution – the supreme law of the land – should be followed by President-elect Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.

Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are now trying to do an end run around the Constitution by reducing the salary of Secretary of State to previous levels.
Reports suggest that not one United States Senator, either Republican or Democrat, will oppose this unconstitutional legerdemain when it comes to the Senate floor next week. Is there not one Senator who will stand for the Constitution? (Reid seems desperate to avoid a vote that would put each Senator on record.)
Also, let your representatives in Congress know what you think about proposed efforts to do an end run around the Constitution to help Hillary become Secretary of State. You can call Congress at (202) 244-3121.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
To liberals our Constitution is a piece of toilet paper. It’s a meaningless piece of paper to be interpreted “situationally dependent.” After all, they believe in a “living document.”
Somehow, they find worlds like “shall not be infringed” obscure and open to interpretation, but when they grossly violate the spirit of the Constitution by placing Clinton into this position they don’t have a problem with it.

….Thank you Mark for sending this UPDATE to me.

Anchorage Daily News A evidence tag sits beneath a window at the Wasilla Bible Church on Saturday, December 13, 2008, after a suspicious fire on Friday night did an estimated $1 million. A multi-agency task force is investigating the scene.

Palin’s church damaged in suspicious fire
Fort Mill Times
By RACHEL D’ORO
ANCHORAGE, Alaska
An arson fire has badly damaged Gov. Sarah Palin’s home church, which came under the national spotlight during her failed campaign as the Republicans’ vice presidential nominee.
Damages to the Wasilla Bible Church were estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was intentionally set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele. He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson.
Palin was not present when the fire broke out.
Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire.
He said he didn’t know of any recent threats to the church. Steele said authorities were noting the church’s connection with Palin, but added that they didn’t know if that was relevant to the fire.

“It’s hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation,” he said. “We have no information on intent or motive.”

Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire.
Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.

“There are so many variables,” he said. “I don’t want to comment in that direction.”

Palin on Saturday stopped by the church, which is located in her home town of Wasilla, 40 miles north of Anchorage. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said in a statement that Palin told an assistant pastor that she apologized if the fire was connected to the “undeserved negative attention” the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate on Aug. 29.

“Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good,” McAllister said.

The thousand-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain’s running mate. Early in Palin’s campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family “Love Won Out Conference” in Anchorage. The conference promised to “help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome.”
The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. Two children also were present, he said.
The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.
Kroon said he was called about 9:30 p.m. Friday and by the time he got to the church, smoke was pouring out of the building.
Firefighters worked in minus-20-degree temperatures outside the building.
Sprinklers kept the fire from spreading beyond offices and classrooms on the first two floors of the three-story building. But Steele said firefighters had to break through some of the interior to reach flames trapped inside walls. The main worship area sustained some water damage.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
Thank you God that no one was injured. What sick loons would do this? Unbelievable.
“church, which came under the national spotlight during her failed campaign as the Republicans’ vice presidential nominee.”
“failed” …. the stupid hateful media has to put the failed word in. They could at least not be so obvious about their hate for conservatives.
The article is about a fire that could have easily taken lives and yet the media has to make it political in how they write their report.
It will be interesting to see how many politicans speak out against this IF it is proven to be a politically inspired arson attack. My bet is that there won’t be many, and the media will say that Gov. Palin brought it upon herself and the church. We have nothing but physical and moral cowards as leaders, and that is why Gov. Palin is so valuable.
So sad that Sarah blames herself for this, this was NOT her fault, this was the fault of the left wing liberal nut jobs that are now controlling the majority of the United State. Sarah Palin is wonderfull and first class. I realize too that is also why she felt she had to say something.

Change Ohio and various patriot groups confront the Ohio State House to save the Constitution

On Wednesday December 10th, the Ohio House Judiciary Committee were confronted by members from Campaign for Liberty, Ohio Freedom Alliance, We Are Change Ohio, John Birch Society, Institute for Principled Policy, Constitution Party of Ohio, and the Libertarian Party of Ohio whom testified against HJR, an Ohio call for an Article V Constitutional Convention.

This is one of only two legal methods for amending the Supreme Law of the Land. This nation is only a few states away from having application of the requisite 34 states needed to convene a Constitutional Convention.
It is worth noting that many states which have called for a Constitutional Convention in the past have since withdrawn their requests (Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, New Hampshire, and others) after realizing the danger of such an event.

The list of reasons why this is a terrible idea is very long but boils down to We the People don’t want a Constitution-Amending free-for-all, nor do we want to risk losing our Constitution altogether. Many states have called for a Con-Con but have since realized the risk of doing so and have rescinded their calls. Ohio Patriots are trying to tell the Ohio legislature to LEARN FROM HISTORY and don’t repeat their mistakes. If a Constitution Convention is called, our Constitution and Bill of Rights would be up for grabs and open to any and all changes.

The committee had some questions and a couple repeatedly voiced concerns, enough so that I definitely think we have a good shot at getting this defeated. The House committee’s next move will likely be a vote to send the resolution to the full House.

Speak out AGAINST this resolution! NO TO HJR 8 and SJR 9!
http://www.ohiofreedom.com/subd/
There are a total of 7 videos on this from their meeting.

Wild Thing’s comment……….
I found this video while I was looking for something else. Thank goodness people spoke up in Ohio and any of the other States that have caused them to change their minds on this about the Constitution Convention.

Dec. 12, 2008 Lt. Gen. John F. Mulholland pins the Silver Star on one of 19 Fort Bragg Special Forces soldiers who were honored for their actions.

In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Army, Capt. Kyle Walton, right, and Master Sgt. Scott Ford, left, talk to an interpreter in Eastern Afghanistan. Both men will recieve a Silver Star Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 in the largest Special Forces award ceremony since the Vietnam War. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Photo, Sgt. David N Gunn) (Sgt. David N Gunn – AP)
Silver Star record for unit in Afghan cliff clash
Breitbart

“By the end of the six-hour battle deep within the Shok Valley, Walton would bear witness to heroics that on Friday would earn his team 10 Silver Stars, the most for a single battle in Afghanistan.”

December 12, 2008
FORT BRAGG, N.C.
Capt. Kyle Walton remembers pressing himself into the jagged stones that covered the cliff in northeast Afghanistan.
Machine gun rounds and sniper fire ricocheted off the rocks. Two rounds slammed into his helmet, smashing his head into the ground. Nearby, three of his U.S. Army Special Forces comrades were gravely wounded. One grenade or a well-aimed bullet, Walton thought, could etch April 6, 2008 on his gravestone.
Walton and his team from the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group had been sent to kill or capture terrorists from a rugged valley that had never been penetrated by U.S. forces—or, they had been told, the Soviets before them.
He peered over the side of the cliff to the dry river bed 60 feet below and considered his options. Could he roll the wounded men off and then jump to safety? Would they survive the fall?
By the end of the six-hour battle deep within the Shok Valley, Walton would bear witness to heroics that on Friday would earn his team 10 Silver Stars, the most for a single battle in Afghaniston and possibly since the Vietnam War, although Army officials couldn’t confirm that.
Army officials said an Air Force controller who guided air strikes from the ground was also nominated for a Silver Star but did not know if he had received it and Air Force officials couldn’t immediately track down the case.
Walton, a Special Forces team leader, and his men described the battle in an interview with The Associated Press last week. Most seem unimpressed they’ve earned the Army’s third-highest award for combat valor.

“This is the story about Americans fighting side-by-side with their Afghan counterparts refusing to quit,” said Walton, of Carmel, Ind. “What awards come in the aftermath are not important to me.”

The mission that sent three Special Forces teams and a company from the 201st Afghan Commando Battalion to the Shok Valley seemed imperiled from the outset.
Six massive CH-47 Chinook helicopters had deposited the men earlier that morning, banking through thick clouds as they entered the valley. The approaching U.S. soldiers watched enemy fighters racing to positions dug into the canyon walls and to sniper holes carved into stone houses perched at the top of the cliff.
Considered a sanctuary of the Hezeb Islami al Gulbadin terrorist group, the valley is far from any major American base.
It was impossible for the helicopters to land on the jagged rocks at the bottom of the valley. The Special Forces soldiers and commandos, each carrying more than 60 pounds of gear, dropped from 10 feet above the ground, landing among boulders or in a near-frozen stream.
With several Afghan commandos, Staff Sgt. John Walding and Staff Sgt. David Sanders led the way on a narrow path that zig-zagged up the cliff face to a nearby village where the terrorists were hiding.
Walton followed with two other soldiers and a 23-year-old Afghan interpreter who went by the name C.K., an orphan who dreamed of going to the United States.
Walding and Sanders were on the outskirts of the village when Staff Sgt. Luis Morales saw a group of armed men run along a nearby ridge. He fired. The surrounding mountains and buildings erupted in an ambush: The soldiers estimate that more than 200 fighters opened up with rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and AK-47s.
C.K. crumbled to the ground.
Walton and Spc. Michael Carter dove into a small cave. Staff Sgt. Dillon Behr couldn’t fit so the Rock Island, Ill., native dropped to one knee and started firing. An F-15 made a strafing run to push back the fighters, but it wasn’t enough.
Sanders radioed for close air support—an order that Walton had to verify because the enemy was so near that the same bombs could kill the Americans.
The nearest house exploded; the firing didn’t stop.
“Hit it again,” Sanders said.
For the rest of the battle, F-15 fighters and Apache helicopters attacked.
Behr was hit next—a sniper’s round passing through his leg. Morales knelt on Behr’s hip to stop the bleeding and kept firing until he, too, was hit in the leg and ankle.
Walton and Carter, a combat cameraman from Smithville, Texas, dragged the two wounded men to the cave. Gunfire had destroyed Carter’s camera so Walton put him to work treating Morales who, in turn, kept treating Behr.
Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer, a medic from Pullman, Wash., fought his way up the cliff to help.
“Heard some guys got hit up here,” he said as he reached the cave, pulling bandages and gear from his aid bag.
Walton told Walding and Sanders to abandon the assault and meet on the cliff. The Americans and Afghan commandos pulled back as the Air Force continued to pound the village.
Walding made it to the cliff when a bullet shattered his leg. He watched his foot and lower leg flop on the ground as Walton dragged him to the cliff edge. With every heartbeat, a stream of blood shot out of Walding’s wound. Rolling on his back, the Groesbeck, Texas, native, asked for a tourniquet and cranked down until the bleeding stopped.
The soldiers were trapped against the cliff. Walton was sure his men would be overrun. The narrow path was too exposed. He sent Sanders to find another way down. Sometimes free-climbing the rock face, the Huntsville, Ala., native found a steep path and made his way back up. Could the wounded make it out alive? Walton asked.
“Yes, they’ll survive,” Sanders said.
Down below, Staff Sgt. Seth E. Howard took his sniper rifle and started climbing with Staff Sgt. Matthew Williams.
At the top, Howard used C.K.’s lifeless body for cover and started to shoot. He fired repeatedly, killing as many as 20 of their attackers, his comrades say. The enemy gunfire slowed. The Air Force bombing continued, providing cover.
Morales was first down the cliff, clutching branches and rocks as he slid. Sanders, Carter and Williams went up to get Behr, then back up to rescue Walding. As Walton climbed down, a 2,000-pound bomb hit a nearby house. Another strike nearly blew Howard off the cliff.
Helicopters swooped in to pick up the 15 wounded American and Afghan soldiers, as well as the rest of the teams. Bullets pinged off the helicopters. One hit a pilot.
All the Americans survived.
Months later, Walding wants back on the team even though he lost a leg. Morales walks with a cane.
The raid, the soldiers say, proved there will be no safe haven in Afghanistan for terrorists. As for the medals, the soldiers see them as emblems of teamwork and brotherhood. Not valor.

“When you go to help your buddy, you’re not thinking, ‘I am going to get a Silver Star for this,'” Walding said. “If you were there, there would not be a second guess on why.”

Members of the Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group endured a nearly seven-hour battle on a mountainside in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province on April 6. (Courtesy Of Maj. Emanuel Ortiz Cruz)

From the Washington Post………….
10 Green Berets to Receive Silver Star for Afghan Battle
By Ann Scott Tyson
After jumping out of helicopters at daybreak onto jagged, ice-covered rocks and into water at an altitude of 10,000 feet, the 12-man Special Forces team scrambled up the steep mountainside toward its target — an insurgent stronghold in northeast Afghanistan.

“Our plan,” Capt. Kyle M. Walton recalled in an interview, “was to fight downhill.”

But as the soldiers maneuvered toward a cluster of thick-walled mud buildings constructed layer upon layer about 1,000 feet farther up the mountain, insurgents quickly manned fighting positions, readying a barrage of fire for the exposed Green Berets.
A harrowing, nearly seven-hour battle unfolded on that mountainside in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province on April 6, as Walton, his team and a few dozen Afghan commandos they had trained took fire from all directions. Outnumbered, the Green Berets fought on even after half of them were wounded — four critically — and managed to subdue an estimated 150 to 200 insurgents, according to interviews with several team members and official citations.
Today, Walton and nine of his teammates from Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group will receive the Silver Star for their heroism in that battle — the highest number of such awards given to the elite troops for a single engagement since the Vietnam War.
That chilly morning, Walton’s mind was on his team’s mission: to capture or kill several members of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin (HIG) militant group in their stronghold, a village perched in Nuristan’s Shok Valley that was accessible only by pack mule and so remote that Walton said he believed that no U.S. troops, or Soviet ones before them, had ever been there.
But as the soldiers, each carrying 60 to 80 pounds of gear, scaled the mountain, they could already spot insurgents running to and fro, they said. As the soldiers drew closer, they saw that many of the mud buildings had holes in the foot-thick walls for snipers. The U.S. troops had maintained an element of surprise until their helicopters turned into the valley, but by now the insurgent leaders entrenched above knew they were the targets, and had alerted their fighters to rally.
Staff Sgt. Luis Morales of Fredericksburg was the first to see an armed insurgent and opened fire, killing him. But at that moment, the insurgents began blasting away at the American and Afghan troops with machine guns, sniper rifles and rocket-propelled grenades — shooting down on each of the U.S. positions from virtually all sides.

“All elements were pinned down from extremely heavy fire from the get-go,” Walton said. “It was a coordinated attack.” The insurgent Afghan fighters knew there was only one route up the valley and “were able to wait until we were in the most vulnerable position to initiate the ambush,” said Staff Sgt. Seth E. Howard, the team weapons sergeant.

Almost immediately, exposed U.S. and Afghan troops were hit. An Afghan interpreter was killed, and Staff Sgt. Dillon Behr was shot in the hip.

“We were pretty much in the open, there were no trees to hide behind,” said Morales, who with Walton pulled Behr back to their position. Morales cut open Behr’s fatigues and applied pressure to his bleeding hip, even though Morales himself had been shot in the right thigh. A minute later, Morales was hit again, in the ankle, leaving him struggling to treat himself and his comrade, he said. Absent any cover, Walton moved the body of the dead Afghan interpreter to shield the wounded.

Farther down the hill in the streambed, Master Sgt. Scott Ford, the team sergeant, was firing an M203 grenade launcher at the fighting positions, he recalled. An Afghan commando fired rocket-propelled grenades at the windows from which they were taking fire, while Howard shot rounds from a rocket launcher and recoilless rifle.

Ford, of Athens, Ohio, then moved up the mountain amid withering fire to aid Walton at his command position. The ferocity of the attack surprised him, as rounds ricocheted nearby every time he stuck his head out from behind a rock. “Typically they run out of ammo or start to manage their ammo, but . . . they held a sustained rate of fire for about six hours,” he said.

As Ford and Staff Sgt. John Wayne Walding returned fire, Walding was hit below his right knee. Ford turned and saw that the bullet “basically amputated his right leg right there on the battlefield.”

Walding, of Groesbeck, Tex., recalled: “I literally grabbed my boot and put it in my crotch, then got the boot laces and tied it to my thigh, so it would not flop around. There was about two inches of meat holding my leg on.” He put on a tourniquet, watching the blood flow out the stump to see when it was tight enough.

Then Walding tried to inject himself with morphine but accidentally used the wrong tip of the syringe and put the needle in this thumb, he later recalled. “My thumb felt great,” he said wryly, noting that throughout the incident he never lost consciousness. “My name is John Wayne,” he said.

Soon afterward, a round hit Ford in the chest, knocking him back but not penetrating his body armor. A minute later, another bullet went through his left arm and shoulder, hitting the helmet of the medic, Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer, who was behind him treating Behr. An insurgent sniper was zeroing in on them.
Bleeding heavily from the arm, Ford put together a plan to begin removing the wounded, knowing they could hold out only for so long without being overrun. By this time, Air Force jets had begun dropping dozens of munitions on enemy positions precariously close to the Green Berets, including 2,000-pound bombs that fell within 350 yards.

“I was completely covered in a cloud of black smoke from the explosion,” said Howard, and Behr was wounded in the intestine by a piece of shrapnel.

The evacuation plan, Ford said, was that “every time they dropped another bomb, we would move down another terrace until we basically leapfrogged down the mountain.” Ford was able to move to lower ground after one bomb hit, but insurgent fire rained down again, pinning the soldiers left behind.

“If we went that way, we would have all died,” said Howard, who was hiding behind 12-inch-high rocks with bullets bouncing off about every 10 seconds. Insurgents again nearly overran the U.S. position, firing down from 25 yards away — so near that the Americans said they could hear their voices. Another 2,000-pound bomb dropped “danger close,” Howard said, allowing the soldiers to get away.

Finally, after hours of fighting, the troops made their way down to the streambed, with those who could still walk carrying the wounded. A medical evacuation helicopter flew in, but the rotors were immediately hit by bullets, so the pilot hovered just long enough to allow the in-flight medic to jump off, then flew away.

A second helicopter came in but had to land in the middle of the icy, fast-moving stream. “It took two to three guys to carry each casualty through the river,” Ford said. “It was a mad dash to the medevac.” As they sat on the helicopter, it sustained several rounds of fire, and the pilot was grazed by a bullet.

By the time the battle ended, the Green Berets and the commandos had suffered 15 wounded and two killed, both Afghans, while an estimated 150 to 200 insurgents were dead, according to an official Army account of the battle. The Special Forces soldiers had nearly run out of ammunition, with each having one to two magazines left, Ford said.

“We should not have lived,” said Walding, reflecting on the battle in a phone interview from Fort Bragg, N.C., where he and the nine others are to receive the Silver Stars today.

Nine more Green Berets from the 3rd Special Forces Group will also receive Silver Stars for other battles. About 200 U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have received the Silver Star, the U.S. military’s third-highest combat award.

Wild Thing’s comment…….
Thank you God for not letting this be worse then what happened. American heroes all. I am in such awe of our military. Our guys did a fantastic job against tremendous odds.

….Thank you Les for sending this to me.

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. speaks with members of the press on Friday morning in response to the continued investigation surrounding his involvement with the political corruption allegations made against Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (Tribune photo by Christopher Booker

Blagojevich fundraiser held by Jackson allies Saturday
Chicago Tribune
By David Kidwell, John Chase and Dan Mihalopoulos
December 12, 2008
As Gov. Rod Blagojevich was trying to pick Illinois’ next U.S. senator, businessmen with ties to both the governor and U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. discussed raising at least $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign as a way to encourage him to pick Jackson for the job, the Tribune has learned.
Blagojevich made an appearance at an Oct. 31 luncheon meeting at the India House restaurant in Schaumburg sponsored by Oak Brook businessman Raghuveer Nayak, a major Blagojevich supporter who also has fundraising and business ties to the Jackson family, according to several attendees and public records.
Two businessmen who attended the meeting and spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity said that Nayak and Blagojevich aide Rajinder Bedi privately told many of the more than two dozen attendees the fundraising effort was aimed at supporting Jackson’s bid for the Senate.
That meeting led to a Blagojevich fundraiser Saturday in Elmhurst, co-sponsored by Nayak and attended by Jesse Jackson Jr.’s brother, Jonathan, as well as Blagojevich, according to several people who were there. Nayak and Jonathan Jackson go back years and the two even went into business together years ago as part of a land purchase on the South Side.
Blagojevich and the congressman met to discuss the Senate seat on Monday, one day before federal prosecutors arrested Blagojevich and charged him with trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
The Tribune has identified Jesse Jackson Jr. as “Senate Candidate 5.” Jackson has denied knowing anything about efforts by emissaries or anybody close to him promising to raise money for Blagojevich in exchange for being appointed to the Senate. He has been contacted by federal prosecutors as part of the probe and has agreed to meet with them.
Jackson’s congressional spokesman Rick Bryant said Thursday that Nayak is a “family friend and supporter” of the congressman as well as his well-known father, Rev. Jesse Jackson. The congressman and Nayak have spoken about Jackson’s desire to succeed Obama.
~ snipet ~
The two businessmen who spoke to the Tribune on the condition of anonymity said they did so because they were afraid of repercussions in the close-knit and politically active Indian business community.
One said Nayak and Bedi told him and others of their plan to help Jackson.
The second said he overheard Nayak and Bedi discussing plans with Bhatt, the Joliet pharmacist..
“Raghu said he needed to raise a million for Rod to make sure Jesse got the seat,” the second businessman said. “He said, ‘I can raise half of it, $500,000.’ The idea was that the other two would help raise the rest.”
Bhatt, whose two Basinger’s Pharmacy outlets were searched by the FBI last week, has been the focus of a state and federal investigations into whether campaign donations were made in exchange for regulatory favors.
Bedi is the managing director for the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity’s Office of Trade and Investment, overseeing nine foreign trade offices around the world from China to Israel. He has also been a key fundraiser for Blagojevich.
Blagojevich has referred to Bedi, who wears a turban, as “My Sikh warrior.”

Wild Thing’s comment…….
It kind of looks like Jessie Junior drew the short straw, doesn’t it? I wonder if this is how Pops Jackson is getting paid back for the ‘cut his BLEEPS off’ comment? Nah, that’s crazy talk! Forget I even said that….just a thought. haha
I guess we better add Jesse Jackson Jr. to the list of those not sleeping too well at night.

Rush visiting the troops……they love him

Rush Limbaugh is the passion of conservatism, the very pulse, bounding through the veins of the nation. He produces life with every heartbeat of his show as he scoffs at liberals and gives us his interpretation of conservative truth. His brand of ideology shakes the very foundations of liberalism.

He follows in the footsteps of giants, such as George Washington, Thomas Paine, and Ronald Reagan, promoting the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He broadcasts affectionately trying to steer growing government towards the ideals of the Constitution.

He believes that Americans with limited government are better Americans. He believes that Americans shouldn’t murder babies in the womb. He believes that tax cuts are good for the economy. And finally, he believes safe Americans living free are the best Americans of all.

.

Colin Powell Lashes Out at Rush Limbaugh
newmax
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell blames Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio for Republican electoral woes in a CNN interview to be broadcast this weekend.

“Can we continue to listen to Rush Limbaugh?” Powell said, according to a transcript of the interview on the “Fareed Zakaria GPS” show CNN released.

“Is this really the kind of party that we want to be when these kinds of spokespersons seem to appeal to our lesser instincts rather than our better instincts?” Powell said.

Powell told Zakaria that he still considers himself a Republican but said his party should quit listening to Limbaugh for advice. Instead, it needs to look more to minority groups if it wants to win elections in the 21st century.
The week before the presidential election, Powell crossed party lines to endorse Barack Obama during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
During the appearance, Powell, the first African-American to hold the secretary of state position, made it clear that race had not played a role in his decision to back Obama. His support, he said, arose from Obama’s “ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America.”
Ironically, conservatives like Limbaugh had strongly opposed John McCain during his presidential campaign, while Powell donated $2,300 to McCain during his primary effort.

“I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country,” Powell said. “I think that the party has to take a hard look at itself, and I’ve talked to a number of leaders in recent weeks and they understand that.”

“There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views — I don’t object to that,” Powell said in the interview, which was taped Wednesday. “But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority.”

Wild Thing’s comment……….
Hey Colin, here’s a newsflash for you, NO ONE GIVES A DAMN WHAT YOU THINK! Powell isn’t worthy to even speak of Rush Limbaugh. Colin Powell is NOT a republican he is an enemy of the republican party.
Another idiot that thinks taking on Rush is a good thing (remember Senator Reid’s attempt). LOL
For someone who has been involved exstensively with the Military, he ought to know that stabbing Rush is also attacking the Military… they LOVE HIM!!!
Powell is an 4 star opportunistic diva. I never liked him, even at the peak of his popularity. Stormin’ Norman was more my kind of man. Powell shines a seat with his a** – he’s a bureaucrat who got way more famous and admired than he ever deserved to be. This self-righteous lackey should just go away and stop charging towards any tv camera that he can get his puss in front of. The man has little honor if any.

…..Thank you Jack for sending this to me. Jack’s blog is Conservative Insurgent.

US calls on Europe to take Guantánamo inmates
Times Online Co.UK
America is putting increasing pressure on Britain and other European countries to take in dozens of Guantánamo detainees so that Barack Obama can close down the infamous prison camp.
The issue threatens to be an early test of relations with the President-elect, who has stated that shutting Guantánamo will be one of the top priorities for his incoming administration.

John Bellinger, the chief legal adviser to Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, told The Times that the US had been seeking help from European allies in resettling detainees who were regarded as posing no threat to the West but could not be sent back to their own countries.

A senior State Department official confirmed that the response from Britain and most European Union members had been to refuse. Mr Bellinger said: “It is not helpful for countries to keep calling for the closure of Guantánamo while doing nothing to enable us to do it.”

More than a fifth of the 250 remaining Guantánamo inmates are Chinese, Libyan, Russian, Tunisian or Uzbek nationals who might face persecution or death if they are sent back home. Albania has taken in a handful of Uighurs, who are part of an Islamic separatist movement in a remote western region of China, and Portugal said this week that it was ready to provide a home for others. Luis Amado, the Foreign Minister, said: “The time has come for the European Union to step forward.”
A State Department official acknowledged that public hostility in Europe towards President Bush had been a significant barrier to making progress but suggested that Mr Obama may find it easier.

There have already been discussions between the State Department and Mr Obama’s transition team on closing Guantánamo and one figure who had been present at such talks said that the President-elect had been “getting ready to do some quite robust arm-twisting in European capitals”.

It is understood that Mr Obama’s plan to close Guantánamo would involve taking the most dangerous detainees – a group numbering between 30 and 80 men – from the prison camp in Cuba to the US mainland for trial, where they will finally receive legal rights.
This would involve creating a special terrorism court designed to handle highly sensitive intelligence material and protect the identity of CIA personnel. Some suspects may face lesser charges than those laid against them at Guantánamo’s military tribunals, because much of the evidence against them was gathered through techniques denounced by human rights groups as torture.

Wild Thing’s comment……
I feel so much better now, we will be having guests. SHEESH!
Well so it looks like we get the worst of the lot here in America and the others will be sent if allowed to other countries. Maybe, only if those other countries say ok sure we would love to entertain some terrorists that you send us.
This whole thing is so stupid. We have a perfectly good place, GITMO, and it is all set up. But that is something that these twits don’t want. Once again they want to mess with something that works and turn it in to a nightmare.

U.S. now only 2 states away from rewriting Constitution
Sources:
Christian Worldview Network
American Policy Center…this site has the updates
wnd
A public policy organization has issued an urgent alert stating affirmative votes are needed from only two more states before a Constitutional Convention could be assembled in which “today’s corrupt politicians and judges” could formally change the U.S. Constitution’s “‘problematic’ provisions to reflect the philosophical and social mores of our contemporary society.”
“Don’t for one second doubt that delegates to a Con Con wouldn’t revise the First Amendment into a government-controlled privilege, replace the 2nd Amendment with a ‘collective’ right to self-defense, and abolish the 4th, 5th, and 10th Amendments, and the rest of the Bill of Rights,” said the warning from the American Policy Institute.
“Additions could include the non-existent separation of church and state, the ‘right’ to abortion and euthanasia, and much, much more,” the group said.
The warning comes at a time when Barack Obama, who is to be voted the next president by the Electoral College Monday, has expressed his belief the U.S. Constitution needs to be interpreted through the lens of current events.
Tom DeWeese, who runs the center and its education and grassroots work, told WND the possibilities stunned him when he discovered lawmakers in Ohio are considering a call for a Constitutional Convention. He explained that 32 other states already have taken that vote, and only one more would be needed to require Congress to name convention delegates who then would have more power than Congress itself.

“The U.S. Constitution places no restriction on the purposes for which the states can call for a convention,” the alert said. “If Ohio votes to call a Con Con, for whatever purpose, the United States will be only one state away from total destruction. And it’s a safe bet that those who hate this nation, and all She stands for, are waiting to pounce upon this opportunity to re-write our Constitution.”

As former Chief Justice Warren Burger said in a letter written to Phyllis Schlafly, President of Eagle Forum:
“…there is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the convention to one amendment or to one issue, but there is no way to assure that the convention would obey. After a convention is convened, it will be too late to stop the convention if we don’t like its agenda. The meeting in 1787 ignored the limit placed by the confederation Congress…”
We were blessed in 1787; the Con Con delegates were the leaders of a freedom movement that had just cleansed this land of tyranny.
Today’s corrupt politicians and judges would like nothing better than the ability to legally ignore the Constitution – to modify its “problematic” provisions to reflect the philosophical and socials mores of our contemporary society.
Our uniquely and purely American concept of individual rights, endowed by our Creator, would be quickly set aside as an anachronistic relic of a bygone era; replaced by new “collective” rights, awarded and enforced by government for the “common good”.
The problems our nation faces are not a result of deficiencies in our Constitution; rather, they are the direct result of our disregard for that divinely-inspired document of liberty.

.

Thank you God,…….HERE IS THE UPDATE
American Policy Center webiste
UPDATE: on the Ohio Legislature’s activities since our Wednesday Sledgehammer Alert. Thankfully, that Sledgehammer alerted and activated people across the country to the very real and imminent threat that a Constitutional Convention might soon be called by Congress. You had a definite impact on the Ohio House, and gave us at least a temporary victory. But we’re not finished, as you will see.
First and foremost: Thank you for a job well done!
Your efforts delivered a resounding shot across the bow of the Ohio House. According to our legislative contact, some Representatives received more hundreds of calls and emails on this subject. Good work! The House Judiciary Committee definitely felt the heat; the vote scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was cancelled! And there was no vote Thursday. Chairman Blessing said the vote listing was just a terrible mistake (and if you believe that…). Truth be told, your attention stopped them in their tracks!
About a dozen people gave testimony opposing HJR 8. With just 18 hours advance notice, we offer a loud “Bravo”! to those who stepped up to the task. Only Chairman Blessing spoke in favor of the bill, and his arguments were shattered by the other testimony.

Wild Thing’s comment……..
Isn’t it something how no matter how many battles have been fought and won, we still have to keep at it. There truly is no peace without war is what this all has been teaching me. I heard that before as I was growing up, but these last years since Reagan left office I see how true it is.
We really can’t ever give up fighting for our country. The left, the rino’s, communists you name it are working 24/7 to change it.
Here is some excellent information I got from the two sources below.
Sources:
America’s Owners Manual
American Civil Rights Union…NOT the ACLU this is a different name and a different thing entirely. haha
To start over with a new constitution, they would first have to amend Article V to allow it.

“The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the First Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.”
– Article V of the Constitution of the United States

The Founding Fathers provided two methods to propose amendments to the Constitution.
* The Congressional Method requires both Houses of Congress to approve a proposed amendment by a two-thirds vote. For over two hundred years, Americans have chosen to use this particular method to amend the Constitution, but it is not the only method established in Article V.
* The Convention Method requires that the legislatures of two-thirds of the states apply for an Article V Convention. According to Hamilton, Madison and other Founders, along with several US Supreme Court decisions, Congress is then obliged to call a Convention for Proposing Amendments. The states would send delegates to the Convention who would in turn propose amendments directly, bypassing Congress.
The Framers also provided two options for ratifying amendments, and they authorized Congress to decide which option was appropriate. The Supreme Court has ruled that Congress is limited to choosing one of the two options.
* The Legislative Option requires the legislatures of three-fourths of the states to ratify a proposed amendment.
* The Ratifying Convention Option requires the ratifying conventions of three-fourths of the states to ratify a proposed amendment. This option has been used only twice in our history: once to ratify the Constitution itself, and once to ratify the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition.
One thing is perfectly clear: Article V gives the states assembled in convention the same proposal rights as Congress – no more, no less. And no matter whether an amendment originates with Congress or a Convention for Proposing Amendments, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the states before it can become part of the Constitution
The Framers’ Safety Valve
Fearing a tyrannical Congress would block the amendatory process, the Framers formulated Article V, wording it so as to fence off the Constitution from hostile or careless hands. They were careful to enumerate Three Forbidden Subjects:
1. Altering the arrangement known as slavery until 1808, a ban that has been lifted both by time and war.
2. Altering the arrangement of equal representation of the states in the Senate.
3. Writing a new constitution.
The last Forbidden Subject is implied, rather than explicit, like the first two. The Framers took great pains to avoid using the term “constitutional convention”. Instead, the Founding Document refers to a “Convention for proposing Amendments…as Part of this Constitution”. An Article V Convention is strictly limited to proposing amendments to the Constitution of 1787, and it is forbidden to compose a new constitution. No matter what amendments may be proposed, the Constitution must remain intact, else the actions of the Convention become unconstitutional.
Unless Article V is amended first to allow it, a Convention for Proposing Amendments can never become a true constitutional convention, i.e. it can never write a new constitution. And neither can Congress.
How It Would Work
The Founding Document is silent about a Convention for Proposing Amendments, except for establishing its existence and the criterion of its call by Congress. In 1965, a commission of the American Bar Association laid out what could be divined about the Framers’ intent. Then in 1992, after the commotion over the unexpected ratification of the 27th Amendment, originally proposed in 1789, Congress passed a bill reforming its involvement in the amendatory process, to include regulating the petitions for a Convention for Proposing Amendments and regulating the Convention itself.
* Petitions from state legislatures asking Congress to call a Convention for Proposing Amendments would have a shelf life of 7 years before expiring. The petition would have to request a subject or subjects for the Convention to consider, or it could request a general revision of the Constitution of 1787 – but not a new constitution!
* If the legislatures of two-thirds of the states petition Congress for a convention, and if the petitions are “fresh” because they are all less than 7 years old, and if the wording of those petitions is in agreement as to the subject(s) the Convention is asked to consider, then Congress would call the Convention, i.e. set the time and place.
* Baker v. Carr (“One Man/One Vote”) would apply. Delegates would be elected by the people, not appointed by a governor or state legislature. The model for the Convention would be similar to the Electoral College, where each congressional district would elect one delegate, and two delegates would be elected at large by each state.
* The petitioning language used by the states to request a Convention for Proposing Amendments would define the purview of the Convention. The Convention would not be allowed to address any subject outside that language.
* Upon convening, the Vice President would preside until the Convention could elect its own officers and establish its own rules of order.
* During the Convention, the Supreme Court would be available to hear cases generated by the Convention without going through the usual appellate process.
* Amendment proposals would go through deliberation and vigorous debate as would any amendment proposed in Congress. The Convention would set the bar for approving an amendment proposal to pass it on to the states for ratification. This could be a simple majority, a two-thirds majority, or anything that the Convention chose.
* Once the Convention exhausts the language of its purview and passes one, more than one, or no amendment proposals to the states for ratification, the Convention would adjourn permanently, and the delegates would become ordinary citizens again.
* Congress would then submit the proposed amendments to the states for ratification by deciding whether they should use the Legislative Option or the Ratifying Convention Option.
* If Congress chooses the Ratifying Convention Option, each state would hold an election for delegates to its state ratifying convention, which would be apportioned according to population.
* Each state legislature (or state ratifying convention, if Congress so chose) would vote up or down on each proposed amendment. If three-fourths of the states ratified an amendment proposal, it would become part of the Constitution.
Who Represents America?
Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution prevents a sitting congressman or senator from taking a seat as a delegate at a Convention for Proposing Amendments unless he first resigns his seat in Congress. It is safe to say that few would be willing to give up the permanent power of Congress for the transitory power of an Article V Convention.
So who would be elected by the states? Yourself, your friends, and your neighbors. All you have to do is run for Convention Delegate. There would be no need for a party endorsement or a campaign war chest. Anyone who raised a vast sum of money or took campaign contributions from vested interests would immediately fall under suspicion. After all, an Article V Convention is about the Constitution, not pork, perks and personal power.
Anyone who wishes to run for Convention Delegate will have to know his Constitution. He will have to take a stand on the subject(s) the Convention is to consider, and he will have to be able to defend that position in public. He won’t be able to hedge, waffle or use weasel words. Most importantly, the candidate for Convention Delegate will have to be a person of integrity, respected in his community.
The conservative caricature of an Article V Convention is a disorderly mob of statists from Massachusetts, welfare recipients from New York, and New Agers and illegal aliens from California. The liberal caricature of a convention is a gaggle of sexually maladjusted theocrats from Mississippi, American Gothics from Indiana, Johnny Rebs from South Carolina and bearskin-clad mountain men from Alaska.
Of course, the Convention will be representative of America at that time and place. All facets of America will be there, and that is as it should be. At an Article V Convention, everyone will have an opportunity to make his case, and everyone will have to lay his cards on the table. It’s even possible that the Convention will send no amendment proposals to the states or that the states themselves will choose not to ratify.
So why go through all this?
There has long been fear of a Convention for Proposing Amendments because Americans have never used that tool. To most people, this is uncharted territory. But the Framers and Congress have provided a roadmap. Once the Convention meets, does its business and adjourns, Americans will understand that the Convention is just another tool provided by the Framers. Congress and the political parties will be on notice that the People have found another way.
For that is the beauty of the Constitution of the United States. It is designed to be changed by the People, either through their national government or – should that government fail to satisfy their mandate – through a second system of amendment. The Framers bequeathed the People two methods of amendment so that the government would always be under the People’s control.

….Thank you so much Mark for sending this article to me.

Remember Obama said, “I did not know anything about what was going on”

Rahm Emanuel Reportedly Spoke with Blagojevich About Senate Seat
FOX news Chicago
Chicago — The firestorm surrounding Governor Blagojevich is putting some heat on Barack Obama’s transition team. Fox Chicago News has learned about possible conversations between a top Obama aide and the governor regarding the open senate seat. Craig Wall has the exclusive.

Wild Thing’s comment………..
Phone call to New Orleans…..Mr. Nagin, please pick up the red courtsey phone. We’re going to need more buses.
Obama and his team obviously think we in the sticks have never heard of “plausible deniability” before in our petty little lives.
Memo to Obama and Rahm… always remember this,”Chicago, Chicago, that tattlin’ town. OH wait how about this…. heh heh …….Would it be inappropriate to send a fish wrapped up in newspaper to the office of the president-elect?
It won’t be all that bad, George Bush will pardon them ( Ho-bama and his merry men ) all before leaving office. hahhaha

The collapse came after bipartisan talks on the auto rescue broke down over GOP demands that the United Auto Workers union agree to steep wage cuts by 2009 to bring their pay into line with Japanese carmakers.

WASHINGTON
A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers collapsed in the Senate Thursday night after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts.
The collapse came after bipartisan talks on the auto rescue broke down over GOP demands that the United Auto Workers union agree to steep wage cuts by 2009 to bring their pay into line with Japanese carmakers.

“We were about three words away from a deal,” said Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, the GOP’s point man in the negotiations, referring to any date in 2009 on which the UAW would accept wage cuts.

Majority Leader Harry Reid said he hoped President George W. Bush would tap the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund for emergency aid to the automakers. General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have said they could be weeks from collapse. Ford Motor Co. says it does not need federal help now, but its survival is far from certain.

Reid called the bill’s collapse “a loss for the country,” adding: “I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow. It’s not going to be a pleasant sight.”

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Senate Republicans’ refusal to support the White House-negotiated bill irresponsible and also urged the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve to provide short-term relief for the automakers. “That is the only viable option available at this time,” she said.

Congressional Republicans were already in open revolt against Bush over an auto bailout deal the White House negotiated with congressional Democrats, passed by the House passed on Wednesday.
The developments unfolded after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky joined other GOP lawmakers in announcing his opposition to the White House-backed rescue bill passed by the House on Wednesday.
Republicans also bitterly opposed tougher environmental rules carmakers would have to meet as part of the House-passed version of the rescue package and the Senate dropped them from its package.
Some Senate Democrats joined Republicans in turning against the House-passed bill — despite increasingly urgent expressions of support from the White House and President-elect Barack Obama for quick action to spare the economy the added pain of a potential automaker collapse.

FROM: Senate Auto Bailout Fails- CSPAN 2 Live ( with my notes)
Dodd explaining that this is a complex issue. Dodd is going nuts! He is ranting! Saying he feels bad for the people that won’t have jobs, and won’t be able to provide for their families over the holiday season yada yada, this guy is the PROBLEM!
Hey DODD! I am not praying for the demise of the livelihoods of fellow Americans, we keep bailing out banks and companies we will all lose our livelihoods.
Harry Reid speaking now, says he is so sorry they could not reach a conclusion, crying about how hard everyone worked. LOL Harry never worked!
When all of this started..didn’t the UAW thugs say they weren’t willing to make any concessions…
bwahhahahahahahaha
Chris Dodd and Barney Frank and Chick Schumer, they are the reason the Grinch stole Detroit’s Christmas.

Senator Jim DeMint on the Auto Bailout
Thank God for Sen. DeMint of South Carolina. He is probably the most consistent and outspoken of the opponents of this looting on the hill now. I loved his remark earlier about how people will be rioting in the streets if they DO approve this bailout. About time the Rs learned how the propaganda game is played.

The bailout bill is now dead in the Senate. Thank you respined GOP!