Senator Highlight

Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) was defeated by a sizeable marigin in 2006 midterm election. However, during his time in Congress (1991-1994, U.S. House; 1995-2006, U.S. Senator), Santorum compiled a very conservative voting record which included his sponsorship of S. 3564: Border Security First Act of 2006 which, basically, would impose harsh penalties on those constructing tunnels underneath the border.



As Santorum said on the floor of the Senate, "...It is imperative that we secure our borders now. This first step cannot--and should not have to--wait for a "comprehensive" solution. Once we secure our borders, we can look at all of the other illegal immigration related issues that remain. There is a bipartisan consensus on what needs to be done on border security and the provisions that make up this consensus. We should not hold our border security hostage to a broader initiative."



Senator Santorum, thank you for your service to America.

Legislative Update!

Not much is happening on Capitol Hill this week. This is a time of the year commonly known as a "lame duck" session. Basically, this is a time for the officials who are leaving to pack up their bags and a time for new Congressmen/women to move in. Virtually nothing gets done after elections in any legislature in any part of the nation. President Bush, however, still wants to try and get a couple of bills through before the Republican reign is over. As FOX News reports, "The main order of House business planned for Monday was consideration of a free-trade bill with Vietnam, ahead of Bush's scheduled visit there Friday. The Senate was to debate a funding bill for veterans programs."



Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) who has been vehemently against our troops in Iraq (even though he was a veteran himself) is running for the office of Democratic House Majority leader against Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-PA). Murtha has called numerous times for our troops to withdraw from Iraq--a position that most level-headed people agree would lead to nothing but disaster. If you live in an area represented by a Democrat, call your U.S. Representative and tell him that a vote for Murtha as majority leader is a slap in the face to our brave men and women overseas.

2008.

Candidates have gotten an early start in the 2008 race for the White House.



Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D-IA) --campaign site here-- was able to attract most of the press' attention as he announced that he would, definitely, be running for president. "Over the next several weeks, [my family] and the rest of my team will put together the building blocks needed to run a successful national presidential campaign. I invite all Americans to join with us in working for America's future," proclaimed Vilsack.



U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), current chair of the House Armed Services Committee, has announced his intentions to run on the Republican side. "This is going to be a long road, it's a challenging road, there's going to be some rough and tumble, but I think it's the right thing to do for our country," said Hunter about running for the Presidency.



U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has told the media that he is looking to form a presidential exploratory committe. What does that really mean? He's running in '08. McCain has taken harsh criticism from many conservatives (including myself) for his liberal stands on issues such as campaign finance reform and global warming. He is, however, considered the frontrunner in preliminary polls.



Former Repub. NYC Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, announced that he would be forming an exploratory committee to "test the waters." He has taken harsh criticism from conservatives such as myself for being too liberal on very important issues such as abortion, the sanctity of marriage, and tax cuts. Will Rudy be able to overcome these obstacles and win the nomination?



Keep this in mind about the candidates mentioned above...what they say now is, most likely, what they truly believe--what they say on the campaign trail could be nothing more than an effort to pander to sections of the electorate.

Rummy.

The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfield, resigned last week after the Republican's defeat on election day. Some Conservatives argue that if "Rummy" had resigned only a couple of months earlier, the Republicans would still be in control of the House and the Senate. ...continue reading here...<

Bible Verse of the Week