That’s Elbert With An E

I posted a link in a previous post regarding some rules House Democrats wish to pass restricting free speech of House members on the Internet. As reported on The Next Right:

In typical fashion, House Democrats are trying to pass rules that stifle debate and require regulation. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) sent a letter to the Chairman of the Committee on House Administraion Kevin Brady. The letter is a response to a debate about whether the House should allow members to use YouTube, first raised by Rep. Kevin McCarthy back in April. From that story:

The reason is simple enough: The Franking Commission frowns on official links to campaign-related Web sites, political parties, advocacy groups and “any site the primary purpose of which is the conduct of commerce.”

Well, Capuano’s proposal is a disaster. It creates a list of sites, maintained by the Committee on House Administration that members are allowed to post material.

House Republican Leader John Boehner released a statement on July 8, Which I’ve reprinted below:

I’m writing to alert you to an attack on free speech that is making its way through Congress. This attack, which should concern activists of all political affiliations across the ideological spectrum, comes in the form of a new congressional rule that would prohibit Americans from viewing content published by Members of Congress on websites that are not “approved” by the Committee on House Administration, the panel that creates rules governing the internal operations of the U.S. House.

Millions of Americans today utilize free, unregulated and uncensored websites like YouTube on a daily basis to not only obtain information from their elected leaders about what’s going on in their government, but to also give feedback and easily share that information with others. The advent of new media technology has empowered American citizens with real-time information about the policy debates and actions being undertaken by Congress. This has increasingly forced Congress to become more transparent and made it easier for American citizens to hold their elected leaders accountable.

The Committee on House Administration is considering a new rule that could bring this trend to a screeching halt. The Committee is considering the adoption of new rules that would require outside websites such as YouTube to comply with House regulations before Members of Congress could post videos on them. Under the proposal, the House Administration Committee would develop a list of “approved” websites, and Members of Congress could post content only such websites. The rule has been proposed by the Democratic chairman of the Commission on Mailing Standards, Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), and is being considered for adoption by the Committee on House Administration, chaired by Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA). A copy of Rep. Capuano’s letter is available at http://gopleader.gov/UploadedFiles/Capuano_letter.PDF.

If the proposed rule is adopted, the free flow of information over the Internet between Americans and their representatives will be significantly curtailed. Americans who currently use free websites like YouTube to obtain uncensored daily information about congressional policy debates will instead be forced to go to websites “approved” by the House Administration Committee in order to continue getting such information. This would amount to new government censorship of the Internet, by a panel of federal officials that is neither neutral nor independent.

House Republicans, led by Reps. Vern Ehlers (R-MI), Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Tom Price (R-GA), have expressed their opposition to this attack on Internet freedom and proposed an alternative solution that would allow Members of Congress to continue posting content at sites of their choosing.

In response to this situation The Sunlight Foundation has started a campaign on Twitter called Let Our Congress Tweet. If you’ve got a Twitter account, stop by and take a look. A post on their blog says it simply:

If Members can use whatever brand of inkpen, or any brand of paper, or buy whatever shoes they want, they should be given radically expanded freedom to use the Internet, and make the same empowering discoveries that their constituents are. Even if that same pen was once used to scribble a ransom note.

It appears that House Democrats wish to control the debate and stifle political speech. Honestly, between their support of the Fairness Doctrine and this mess, these guys have more in common with Castro or Ahmadinejad or Stalin than our founding fathers.

To update a story I posted earlier, the News Journal has an updated story on the Eminent Domain veto. They report:

Minner would not agree to be interviewed about her veto. But in a letter to state senators she released to the media, the governor wrote that the bill could restrict the state’s ability to get an easement on private property for beach preservation or other purposes and be more costly to taxpayers.

Hopefully the Legislature will see the light and override this veto. Call your representative Monday (that’s today) and let them know you’re not happy about this! And while you’re at it, don’t forget about the Planned Parenthood funding.

I guess mama knows best. From the News Journal:

Gov. Ruth Ann Minner announced today she is vetoing legislation that would have redefined “public use” in the eminent domain law and made it harder for government agencies to take private land. The Legislature passed Senate Bill 245 on June 12, after months of negotiations between parities involved in the issue.

This is just crazy.

Members of both chambers of the Legislature have said a new eminent domain law is a priority, and they suspect an 11th hour attempt to ensure a compromise is reached and signed by the governor before they adjourn Monday night.

It would be nice to see them just override her veto, but Delaware Watch reports:

Even though the measure passed both houses by overwhelming margins, it has been reported to Delaware Watch that Senate President Pro Tem Thurman… Adams has the policy that no veto by a Democratic Governor will be overturned while he dominates the state Senate.

And that’s a shame.

Once more from the News Journal:

Although SB 245 came partly as a response to the Riverfront squabble, it also was a reaction to the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Kelo v. City of New London. In that case, the nation’s highest court ruled that the taking of private property as part of a comprehensive redevelopment plan was a permissible use of eminent domain because the public at large benefits from the redevelopment.

Funny thing is that the City of New London tore down the house and the development for which the house was removed has yet to happen:

…not much progress has been made in Fort Trumbull, leaving some wondering whether the homeowners were forced out for nothing.

Hit this link for SB 245. Hat tip to Delaware Liberal for the veto story. Hat tip to Newsbusters for the Kelo update.

I thought it would be worthwhile noting some other local comments on Senator Kennedy’s recent health issues. The Conservative Geek put up a post on his blog echoing some of what I wanted to say:

Cancer doesn’t care if you are a kindergarten teacher, as my mom was, a vagabond, or a United States senator that has served eleven years longer than I have been alive. It is an equal opportunity world wrecker.

That is what moves me to compassion. We will all die someday. It is just simply a horrible way to go, and I would not wish it on anyone.

Frank Knotts at Delaware Politics echoes these thoughts but points out WGMD’s Bill Colley making some rather disgusting remarks on his show. It would seem that Bill welcomes the man’s demise. Frank makes a couple of good points:

…we must not put our politics above our humanity…

and

…a prayer for someone who has done wrong does not condone what they have done , it is a prayer for God to save them , and we are all worthy of that.

Without a doubt, the left has been gleefully happy at any conservative’s demise, and have made that plain on sites such as Daily Kos. Conservatives are better than that. We don’t need to take ourselves down to their level and behave in such a base fashion. There are exceptions, mind you, such as Al Sharpton’s comments about Jerry Falwell after his passing. I know that kavips knows that. Glad that Hube called him on it too.

I should add this. Back about twenty years ago, I had some rather cruel remarks about a different liberal politician that had encountered health issues. This was back before the blogs, so you’ll have to take my word on it. God called me on it, and I had to repent and change my ways. After going through some tragedies and seeing friends walk through some difficulties, The Lord has given me a different perspective on these life and death matters. I hope I never act that way again. There is grace if I repeat that mistake provided I repent, but I don’t like sinning and grieving the heart of God.

Again, join me and many others as we lift Ted Kennedy and his family up in prayer. Honestly, it would really be cool if he were healed as a result of our prayer efforts.

Here at That’s Elbert, we pray for all men and women, political friend or foe. Over the weekend it was reported that Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts had two seizures and as a result was hospitalized. Tests were run and it was reported today that he has a malignant brain tumor. Pray for him and his family during this difficult time.

Former Ku Klux Klansman and current Democrat Senator Robert Byrd has endorsed Barack Obama. That’s certainly weird. Hillary has got to be really annoyed about that, considering she won his state, West Virginia, by a wide margin. I have to admit that I didn’t hear about this until Jay Leno joked about this Monday night.

Mark Beverly got fired. Who is this guy? He used to work for SuperAmerica, a convenience store owned by Marathon Petroleum Company. Beverly was fired due to helping a fellow employee during a robbery at the store. SuperAmerica says he violated store policy by getting involved. Essentially in this situation he should have just stood there and watched another employee getting assaulted by a crook. I disagree in this case. Read the story and decide yourself.

Hat tip to DelawarePolitics.net for this video, which I will embed as well.

This is what is needed in the contest for Biden’s seat. Point out how bad he is, which really shouldn’t be that hard.

I thought this news story was worth some comments. WBOC has a story on their site called “Delaware’s Political Landscape is Changing.” They point out recent shifts in voter registration:

Political observers say the landscape in Delaware is changing and elections officials say the number of democrats is growing in the first state.

It’s safe to say that most of those shifts come from some residents wanting to have an influence in the Democrat primary in September, where Markell and Carney are fighting it out for governor. Let’s see how many shift back to the Republicans in the fall after the primary. That might tell quite a bit.

Brad Bennett (D) is running against Rep. Donna Stone (R) in the fall. In the story it says:

[Bennett] said on the campaign trial he’s noticed people want a change in leadership.

“Basically a lot of them are upset about the direction Delaware has been heading the last few years. So yes they are looking for change,’ said Bennett.

If voters were looking for a change, they wouldn’t be voting for democrats, who have been running the state senate and governor’s mansion for quite a while. If you want change in the state, you’d toss out the moderates and liberals in both parties. They are the ones that have been driving us into the ground. You will never bring any change by putting more of them in power. They are the problem not the solution.

If the Republicans want to regain or at least maintain the level of leadership they have currently, here are some of my ideas.

• Republicans need to gather behind a unified platform, like a “Contract With Delaware”, and every candidate run with this in mind.
• They need to run away with fear the tendency to be simply The Other democrat Party. Be different. If you give voters a choice, they would probably vote for a real democrat instead of voting for a democrat in Republicans’ clothing, also known as a RINO. That issue is the one thing that would make Mike Castle vulnerable.

If voters really want change, they will never get it from the Dark Side… err, I mean the democrats. It will come from the Republicans, the Constitution Party, the Libertarians, or The Independent Party of Delaware.