PoliticalAction.com Blog

WASHINGTON, DC — A petition to The White House to file charges against 47 Senators has been initiated.

“On March 9th, 2015, forty-seven United States Senators committed a treasonous offense when they decided to violate the Logan Act, a 1799 law which forbids unauthorized citizens from negotiating with foreign governments. Violation of the Logan Act is a felony, punishable under federal law with imprisonment of up to three years.

At a time when the United States government is attempting to reach a potential nuclear agreement with the Iranian government, 47 Senators saw fit to instead issue a condescending letter to the Iranian government stating that any agreement brokered by our President would not be upheld once the president leaves office.

This is a clear violation of federal law. In attempting to undermine our own nation, these 47 senators have committed treason.”

Musicians and artists are finding the economy tougher than ever on the music business. The legislature has six issues on the agenda.

Excerpts from Billboard
By Glenn Peoples

From performance royalties to deciding how musicians travel with their instruments on airplanes, numerous issues central to the music industry are alive Washington D.C. The highest profile topic is webcasting royalties, a holdover from the Internet Radio Fairness Act introduced last year that sparked a strong public relations fight between its supporters, including Pandora and Clear Channel, and its opponents, mainly record labels and artists.

The music industry will have a receptive House during this 113th Congress. Although the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet lost Howard Berman, a longtime supporter of music industry issues it is now chaired by Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), who sources say has a reputation for being friendly to content owners’ interests. In fact, RIAA senior vice president Mitch Glazier was Coble’s chief of staff. Mel Watt (D-NC), the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, is also said to be a supporter of music industry causes.

1. Radio and Internet Royalties. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has indicated he wants to continue the discussion on music licensing issues that began with the November hearing on webcasting royalties. Many insiders expect 2013 will see a follow-up to the Internet Radio Freedom Act, the webcasting-focused bill introduced last year and expired at the end of the last Congress, and a counter bill that would seek to address broadcast radio’s lack of performance royalties for sound recordings. Performance royalty legislation won’t be a top priority, however. The House Judiciary is likely to deal with legislation on gun control and immigration early in the year.

Sony/ATV Negotiates 25% Royalty Increase From Pandora: Report

2. Section 115 Reform. Related to the performance royalties for sound recordings will be a move to address change to Section 115, the part of copyright law that grants a compulsory license to make and distribute phonorecords. David Israelite, president of the National Association of Music Publishers, says music publishers and digital media companies have “largely agreed on the framework for a solution.” A higher rate standard in Section 115 would be consistent with Section 114 and would lead to “higher rates for songwriters, especially in the area of digital downloads.” As will be the case with performance royalties, a busy Judiciary Committee will handle Section 115 reform.

3. Intellectual property enforcement. There are rumors that Victoria Espinel, the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator for the White House, will not stay a second term, according to sources (a request for a comment from her office was not received). Espinel has been well received in the music industry for her work encouraging intermediaries to voluntarily address piracy. For example, her office was instrumental in the statement of best practices released in May by the Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies that outlined a commitment not to support web sites that facilitate copyright infringement. “I think the office will try to be helpful in advancing those agreements and having a role,” says one executive, “[but] nobody has an expectation there will be more than that.”

4. PRO IP Act Reform. Rep. Zoe Lofgren is considering introducing a bill that will reform how the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Justice seizes and blocks domain names from sites found to infringe on copyrights. The PRO IP Act, passed in 2008, allows law enforcement to seize property used to commit copyright infringement. Along with law enforcement agencies in other countries, ICE has seized hundreds of domains for websites that illegally sold counterfeit merchandise or hosted illegal downloads or streams. Lofgren explained that her proposal would focus on seizures “based on accusations that a website facilitates copyright infringement and not, for example, accusations of obscenity or libel.”

5. Copy Culture Legislation. Expect some sort of legislation will be introduced that tries to advance the type of concepts — reducing the term of copyright, limiting statutory damages — held by opponents to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). These concepts appeared in a policy brief by the Republican Study Committee in November that claimed copyright law “destroys entire markets” rather than serve the original intent of the Constitution and suggested sharply reduced copyright terms (the report was quickly retracted and the staffer was fired). The bills may not go anywhere but will publicize the concepts, says one source.

6. Traveling With Instruments. Last year Congress passed legislation that reauthorized the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for another four years. Part of that bill was a provision to create a national policy for carrying musical instruments on airplanes. This year the FAA will draft rules from that legislation. The bill set standard weights and size requirements for checked instrument and allows musicians to purchase a seat for large instruments that are too fragile to be checked as baggage. This may sound wonky, but it will directly affect a lot of people.

Dear Citizens,

Harry Reid is determined to pass his extremist agenda, no matter what it costs America.

First, he voted to give special tax breaks and Social Security benefits to Illegal Aliens. Then, he smiled and clapped when the President of Mexico attacked Arizona for their tough new immigration law. Now, Reid has introduced a new plan that introduces AMNESTY for illegal immigrants.

And it’s all at YOUR expense.

You will pay for every penny of his policies. Not a faceless individual from another state, or the mythical “rich” that Reid thinks will easily pay for his “trillions” in spending.

It will be you and your children.

No wonder Harry Reid and his Democrat cronies are planning one of the largest tax increases in United States history this year when they roll back the Bush tax cuts! They’re going to need all that money to pay for their extreme agenda.

We have just one chance to defeat him and keep our money. That chance is right now. Recent polls have me leading Harry Reid and show that I can defeat him. Will you support our final push in these last few weeks before the November Election?

I’ve launched a new TV ad to get this message to every resident of Nevada. Believe me, it’s expensive. That’s why we set a $1 million dollar online fundraising goal for September. Thankfully, we blew past that goal this week so we are now hoping to raise $1.5 million. Will you help me?

In a just a few short weeks, one of two things will happen. Either I will win in November and we’ll get to work on rolling back the government health care takeover that Reid passed, extending the Bush tax cuts, and reducing the size of the Federal Government.

Or Harry Reid will win and we’ll all be spending the holiday season deciding what items we’ll be cutting back on in order to pay for his tax increases and bloated federal spending. Will it be that extra dinner out with your spouse? Will it be something even more serious, like braces for your kids? Those the are the kinds of ugly choices that Harry Reid will be forcing Americans to make if he is re-elected.

Those decisions aren’t pleasant. But those are the decisions we face.

While Harry Reid hangs out in the Ritz in DC planning how he’ll spend your money, we have to face the real decisions back home. Will you stand with me and make SURE this doesn’t happen? Will you help me make sure Reid’s agenda isn’t passed at OUR expense?

Let’s win this together.

For the cause,

Sharron Angle, Republican Nominee for U.S. Senate, Nevada

P.S. Win or lose in a few weeks I’ll be living in Nevada, paying taxes here and watching many of my friends fight to obtain or keep a job. We must not stand by while Reid robs us of what we have left. Will you stand with me?

Paid for by Friends of Sharron Angle

Dear Friend of Liberty,

Power-hungry statists are never satisfied.

Now they’re attempting to use a massive egg recall to shove S. 510, the so-called “Food Safety Modernization Act,” down our throats.

S. 510, through a patchwork of rules and regulations on the food “industry,” will throw America’s heartland under the government-subsidized corporatist bus as it crushes local and community producers of healthy food.

Contact your senators today to tell them to oppose S.510!

Like Cap and Tax, which will guarantee higher energy bills during these rough economic times, S. 510 will further drive up the costs of living by adding more layers of bureaucracy on food production – ensuring you pay more to meet an essential need.

Congress certainly won’t be the one tightening its belt. Section 401 of S. 510 authorizes nearly $1 billion to grow the FDA’s reach and calls for almost 4,000 new bureaucrats to be hired in fiscal year 2010 alone.

This onerous new law will apply harshly to reputable food producers like the independent family farm, where the free market works every day to provide the public with healthy choices.

Meanwhile, Big Agriculture will continue to use its well-entrenched connections to make sure it escapes serious scrutiny.

The statists have worked to replace “credible evidence” with “reasonable probability” in the U.S. Code, giving the FDA power to invade, quarantine, or shut down private property in search of any foodborne illness.

They also changed “presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals” to “is adulterated or misbranded.” What exactly constitutes adulterated? That glass of raw milk? An FDA bureaucrat will decide.

It gets worse.

The bill also grants blanket authority for federal agencies to impose international guidelines and standards on domestic food producers – giving agencies authority to harmonize all American food production and processes in line with the globalist Codex.

It should be noted that Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Judd Gregg (R-NH), Chris Dodd (D-CT), and Richard Burr (R-NC) coordinated to reach a “bipartisan” agreement to forge ahead with the otherwise stalled bill.

If you are a constituent of any of these senators, they especially need to hear from you.

Big Brother and Big Agriculture are combating the truly modern way to improve food safety by targeting the rapidly growing number of food producers who, through the free market, provide diversity and give us choices.

The establishment is pushing for more consolidation and is looking to control your food choices to make it happen. Don’t stomach another round of tyranny. Contact your senators today.

In Liberty,

John Tate

President

P.S. Gluttonous statists are drooling to pass not only this bill, but other assaults like DISCLOSE and Cap and Tax. If you are able, please chip in $10 today so Campaign for Liberty can stay on the offensive against any infringements on our freedoms. Use the “Share” button below to forward this message to your friends and family.

Oh yes, those legislative busybody scanners are at it again, mandating that full body imaging x-ray devices be installed in every airport in the nation by 2013, under the illusory premise of increasing safety.

This is another unconstitutional tactic that Americans are overwhelmingly opposed to, but that doesn’t bother Senator Bob Bennett (R-Utah) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) who introduced S. 3536, the Securing Aircraft From Explosives Responsibly: Advanced Imaging Recognition Act of 2010, (SAFER AIR Act). “To enhance aviation security and protect personal privacy, and for other purposes,” is the leading line of the SAFE AIR bill text.

The goal of the bill must be “for other purposes,” because there will be no personal privacy when more and more travelers, both adults and children, are singled out for an extra security check that is in reality a revealing sneak peek at their anatomy, minus their clothes. Spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars on more machines will do little to “enhance aviation security,” either, as it as already been established that the Detroit bomber’s explosives would not have been detected by such a machine, and even firecrackers have been missed.

The facts remain the same: Having a complete stranger view your almost-naked body is a violation of your privacy and civil rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. Adult and child images have been saved on these machines, even though DHS policy already forbids such practices. A weak reiteration of this policy in new legislation will have zero effect in curbing existing abuses and securing these images that are recorded and stored in the machines — machines that also have the ability to transfer those images at the click of a button. And transfer them they will, between themselves, as it says in the text of the bill:
“An image produced using advanced imaging technology that shows personal or nonstandardized images shall be transferred using a secure connection to a location that enables an employee of the Department of Homeland Security to view the image without risking the exposure of the image to the public.”

There is also the question of health concerns over the radiation exposure, especially for frequent fliers, or anyone with medical problems, prostheses, etc.

Oh sure, the bill contains pathetic attempts to include privacy clauses. One section forbids TSA personnel from having cameras near the machinery, but they really wouldn’t need this precaution because apparently the screeners are adept at saving and transferring nude images generated by these devices, having practiced on 35,000 of them already. Passengers specially picked for extra attention can always opt out of the machine scanning and instead choose the ever popular personal groping session by a person of the same sex, if one is available.

Best thing to do with this legislation is contact your senators and tell them to throw out S. 3536 when it comes before them for the sake of real privacy, health, safety, and freedom.

Currently S. 3536 sits in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. Urging the committee members to drop the legislation now would save a lot of time and trouble down the road.

Thanks,

Your friends at The John Birch Society

By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
Washington Times
March 19, 2010

Impeach the president?
The ‘Slaughter Solution’ would violate the Constitution

The Democrats are assaulting the very pillars of our democracy. As the debate on Obamacare reaches the long, painful end, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is confronting a political nightmare. She may not have the 216 votes necessary to pass the Senate’s health care bill in the House.

Hence, Mrs. Pelosi and her congressional Democratic allies are seriously considering using a procedural ruse to circumvent the traditional constitutional process. Led by Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Rules Committee, the new plan – called the “Slaughter Solution” – is not to pass the Senate version on an up-or-down vote. Rather, it is to have the House “deem” that the legislation was passed and then have members vote directly on a series of “sidecar” amendments to fix the things it does not like.

This would enable House Democrats to avoid going on the record voting for provisions in the Senate bill – the “Cornhusker Kickback,” the “Louisiana Purchase,” the tax on high-cost so-called “Cadillac” insurance plans – that are reviled by the public or labor-union bosses. If the reconciliation fixes pass, the House can send the Senate bill to President Obama for his signature without ever having had a formal up-or-down vote on the underlying legislation.

Many Democrats could claim they opposed the Senate bill while allowing it to pass. This would be an unprecedented violation of our democratic norms and procedures, established since the inception of the republic. Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution stipulates that for any bill to become a law, it must pass both the House of Representatives and the Senate. That is, not be “deemed” to have passed, but actually be voted on with the support of the required majority. The bill must contain the exact same language in both chambers – and in the version signed by the president – to be a legitimate law.

Continue…

Schiff for Senate

Dear Supporter,

One year ago today President Obama signed the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” popularly known as the Stimulus Act, into law. The President and Democrats in Congress promised that this economic stimulus program would create jobs and strengthen the U.S. economy. But a year later we still haven’t seen the results.

Obama insists that the stimulus is working, but we just haven’t seen proof of that in the economic data. But we have seen signs that the stimulus money is being spent… that is, large green highway signs proclaiming that funding for whatever construction project has you sitting in traffic was secured by the federal stimulus package.

The stimulus package was an egregious waste of our tax dollars, and now Democrats in Congress want to pass another jobs bill! I can only imagine how much of our tax dollars will be wasted in this bill, and that, my friend, is why I’m running for the U.S. Senate.

It’s time to get our country’s fiscal house in order, and I’m ready to lead the charge. Our government cannot borrow and spend our way to economic prosperity. The past year has been challenging for all of us. We’ve had to tighten our purse strings, and it’s time for Washington to do the same.

I’m turning to you as one of my strongest supporters, because I need your financial assistance to get my message of fiscal responsibility out to voters. Will you follow this link and make a contribution of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more today? Your immediate contribution will bring me closer to Washington where I’ll fight for the conservative economic principles that have brought Americans prosperity for so many generations.

Government is the least efficient and most expensive means of job creation. In fact, we’re paying $160,000 for each job created. Can you believe it? Just imagine all the jobs that were destroyed or that never were created because $160,000 that otherwise would have been invested by the private sector was spent by the government instead. In addition, Americans continue to lose jobs everyday despite the Obama Administration’s failed efforts. We cannot afford to waste another several hundred billion dollars on a job killing “jobs bill” with our national debt nearly $12.4 trillion and Congress’ recent decision to raise the debt ceiling by another $1.9 trillion. It’s time to force Washington to play a limited role in governing, but we can only do that by electing leaders who will absolutely fight for fiscally conservative values.

As Senator, I will make sure that the government is spending your tax dollars wisely. I will not vote for a bill that funds frivolous projects like highway signs promoting the stimulus bill – New York alone has spent a million dollars on these signs – and I will not support another government bailout of a business, a bank, or an entire industry.

I need your immediate support to get to Washington to fight for our shared values. That’s why I hope I can count on you to follow this link today and make the most generous contribution you can to my campaign.

Thank you in advance for your support. Please stay tuned for updates from the campaign trail.

Sincerely,

Peter Schiff
Republican US Senate Candidate

P.S. Today is the anniversary of President Obama and his fellow Democrats’ failed economic stimulus plan. Instead of allowing the Democrats to pass a jobs bill that will cost hundreds of billions more of our tax dollars, we must act to elect leaders who will fight for economic responsibility and fiscal conservative principles. That’s why I’m running for the U.S. Senate and I hope I can count on you to follow this link and make a generous contribution to support my campaign. Thank you.

Dear Friend:

If Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts last night shows us one thing, it is that nothing in politics can be taken for granted. In the most liberal of states, the people have spoken, and the tide of reform continues to sweep through the country!

Here in Connecticut, we are facing and uphill battle. Like Scott Brown, we are facing a popular attorney general who has started the campaign with a big lead in the polls. National pundits are writing us off, and even here in Connecticut, people are treating Dick Blumenthal’s victory as a foregone conclusion. They ignore us at their peril. We will prove them wrong, and we will win! There’s a movement building across this country, and I feel it every day when I campaign.

We need solutions to the problems facing our country, not more government bureaucracy and empty promises from career politicians! We need a return to the free-market policies that made this country great, that will get Americans back to work and turn the tide on the failed policies in Washington, DC.

I know that we can shock the establishment, just like Scott Brown did last night. With you on my team, we can accomplish anything! Sunday some of our friends organized a money bomb. We raised just over $30,000 dollars from 377 people who donated an average of $80 each. While I want to thank everyone who participated in that money bomb, I also want to issue a challenge to the rest of you who sat it out.

This email is going out to over 150,000 people. Just imagine if everyone matched the contributions given during the money bomb. Instead of raising $30,000 we would raise 12 million. Combine that war chest, with my message and the current political environment, and we can’t lose.

I can win this race, but I cannot win it alone. I need everyone’s help. Together we will not fail. The stakes are just too high. We can take back our nation from the politicians who hold it hostage. We can restore limited government, embrace capitalism, and unleash the entrepreneurial spirit that made this nation great.

Do not assume that someone else will donate for you. We are in this fight together and we all need to contribute to prevail. Don’t think your contribution will be too small to make a difference. Remember we have strength in numbers. Small contributions add up as long as enough people make them (of course larger donations are welcome too).

So go to my web site www.schiffforsenate.com and make your contribution today. Every contribution counts, and if everyone makes one, the tally will be huge.

Let’s send a message so loud that it will resonate from Hartford to Washington D.C. Let’s show our critics that we mean business. Let’s show them that this campaign is real and that we will not be stopped for lack of funds.

Thank you so much for your continued support.

Yours in liberty,

Peter Schiff, US Senate Candidate
schiffforsenate.com