On Tuesday, May 20th the state of Kentucky has its turn in the 2008 Primary Circus. Yes, Hillary Clinton is still officially challenging Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination, but nobody cares anymore - Obama is going to win the nomination. So is there anything left of interest in the Kentucky Primary? As it turns out, there are plenty of fun political sideshows in the Bluegrass State.

I thought this was a pretty good speech from Tim Ryan, problem is if you look at the first second of the clip...He's speaking to an empty room. Where is everybody?

- I love this guy, I watched this clip years ago and waited for something to happen, nothing did.

Hard to find any information about this, Google News currently only has 9 articles from the MSM. I think most people are looking ahead to 2008, Bush still has a year left, probably enough time investigate all the bad stuff that has happened the last seven years. Wexler believes he has a case 'stronger than Watergate.'

Thinkprogresss.org wrote today:

Last night, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) took to the House floor to urge the House Judiciary Committee to begin impeachment hearings into Vice President Cheney for "high crimes and misdemeanors."

Here again is Wexler's website which now has over 194,000 signatures for Impeachment. Here is video of the Wexler speech delivered to the House Floor.

I posted about HR 1955 back in December, it raised a couple eyebrows here on Newsbloggers as well as elsewhere on the web, including my old friends at Brasscheck TV. Who have put together the video below in an effort to speculate about the intentions of such a Bill.

- Hat Tip to Eric! You're the man cool guy.

Robert Wexler Op-Ed
Sign his Petition - 150,000 already have.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The House approved an intelligence bill Thursday that would prohibit the CIA from using waterboarding, mock executions and other harsh interrogation methods. The 222-199 vote sent the measure to the Senate, which still must act before it can go to President Bush. The White House has threatened a veto...Associated Press...

/via thinkprogress.org

... thanks to my rant from yesterday.

Noted philosopher Rod Stewart once said, "Some guys have all the luck." That has never been more true than it is for James Sensenbrenner. He is a United States Congressman from Wisconsin. He is a multi-millionaire. He is one of the heirs to the Kimberly-Clark fortune (they make Kleenex tissues). And he has won the lottery not once, not twice, but three times!

The rich get richer. Jesus, leave a little for the rest of us. But you have to hand it to Sensenbrenner, it's his persistence that paid off. He first won the DC lottery in 1997 to the tune of $250,000. Then he won a $1,000 in the Wisconsin lottery last year. Now, just last week he hit the Wisconsin lottery for another $1,000.

Less than a month ago a Hindu prayer was recited in the US Senate, a wonderful gesture indeed. The Hindu man giving the prayer was interrupted on several occasions while he tried to pray.

The websites that reported on this mentioned that it was a case of Christian Extremists. Than I found out about this lawmaker. Allow me to introduce you to Bill Sali a Congressman from Idaho. - Tip Dailykos

"We have not only a Hindu prayer being offered in the Senate, we have a Muslim member of the House of Representatives now, Keith Ellison from Minnesota. Those are changes -- and they are not what was envisioned by the Founding Fathers," asserts Sali.

Sali says America was built on Christian principles that were derived from scripture. He also says the only way the United States has been allowed to exist in a world that is so hostile to Christian principles is through "the protective hand of God."

"You know, the Lord can cause the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike," says the Idaho Republican.

Michale Isikoff of Newsweek was on The Young Turks on Friday. He explained that Congress could order the Sergeant at Arms to arrest Harriet Miers for contempt of Congress. They don't need the executive branch to do this. It's in the constitution.

Here's the transcript:

Michael Isikoff: There is, very quickly, another option. There's something called inherent contempt where they can enforce contempt themselves. They can have the Sergeant at Arms arrest Harriet Miers in the state of Texas and bring her to Washington for trial before the House, and incarcerate her. That's an option that hasn't been used for years. But it is a Constitutional option.

You can watch the whole interview here.

By the way, they could also do this Karl Rove who will also be in contempt of Congress when he tries to use executive privilege to avoid testifying about the US Attorneys scandal.

How bad ass would it be if the Sergeant at Arms showed up to the White House, handcuffed Karl Rove and led him out the front door? Contempt of Congress, it is a bitch.

Of course, the Democrats would never have the balls to use this option. Oh well, that's the world we live in.

More Young Turks Here

Politicians from both parties have reached a deal on immigration reform. For several years, the Bush administration has been pushing for comprehensive reform which would combine additional measures to secure our borders, a program to bring in "guest workers" to help out certain big businesses, and path to citizenship for illegal immigrants who are here now. Liberal Democrats like Ted Kennedy have been on board, willing to agree to supposed tougher enforcment and an assist to business in order to get their way on what is in effect amnesty for illegals.

Until this year, House Republicans stood in the way of this package. But with the shift in control, this was no longer a problem. Suddenly, the Bush administration and the liberal Democrats just needed 60 votes in the Senate which translates, more or less, to nine Republican Senators.

The breakthrough came when Senator Kyl and other former hardliners on immigration flipped last week. The basic deal, as I understand it, is as follows. First the 12 million or so illegal aliens already here plus any who can sneak in during the next few months will become legal once they step forward and identify themselves. Meanwhile, various measures designed to toughen enforcement will commence -- more fence building, more border patrol personnel, and so forth. Next, the guest worker program goes into effect. Finally, the former illegals get a path to becoming ciitzens. However, this happens (in theory at least) only if certain enforcement "triggers" are met. As I understand it, if the government hasn't built a certain amount of fencing, hired a ceratain amount of personne etc, then the "path to citizenship" provisions don't kick in.

I'm opposed to this deal. It grants the immediate benefit of legalization to millions of illegal immigrants and provides only the promise of enhanced enforcement. It further awards the lawbreaking former illegals by giving them a path to citizenship. It's true that this is supposed to occur only if the "triggers" are satisfied. However, I have little faith that the triggers are particularly meaningful or, in any case, that they won't be waived. If, as the legislation assumes, "amnety" for illegals is appropriate only in an environment in which we've effectively secured our border, then all forms of forgiveness towards illegals should wait until such time that effective enforcement -- not fences and more bureuacrats, but concrete results -- is a reality.

I have mixed feelings about the new immigration reform bill. But I was struck by the complaint by Jorge Mursuli of People for the American Way that the bipartisan proposal "departs radically" from the "family unification" emphasis of current immigration law. Yes it does, and it should. That's because the family unification provision, as it currently exists, is highly susceptible to abuse.

I came to America from India in 1978. Under current law, I could have brought my parents as dependents. They could then have sponsored my brother and sister. My brother could have brought his wife, who could then have brought her parents and (through them) her brother. The brother could have brought his wife, and she could have brought her parents--only they already happen to be in America. My sister could have brought her husband and two children. The husband could have brought his living mother, and she could then have sponsored her other seven grown children. They of course could have brought their families. And the process could continue indefinitely. In short, Dinesh's "family unification" could have by now resulted in more than a hundred people coming to America. I believe in "family values," but this is ridiculous!

In reality, I didn't bring anyone from my family. They're all still in India. But lots of immigrants have exploited the family loophole to bring in a procession of relatives, some of them so distant that they are scarcely known to the orginal sponsor. I'd like to see immigration law changed to restrict the family provision to the nuclear family. That's humane, and it also makes sense. Sorry, Jorge, but much as we'd all like to help our your sister's husband's parents, we need to limit your admit coupons to your wife and children.

The latest Gallup poll shows Congress with an approval rating of 29 percent. This compares unfavorably with President Bush's approval rating, which stands at 33 percent according to the same poll. Moreover, Congress' 64 percent disapproval rating is one point higher than that of the last Congress just before the 2006 elections.

Why is this Congress viewed so unfavorably? Part of the explanation lies in the inherent unpopularity of the institution as it has evolved. At the beginning of the year, Congress' approval rating was only 37 percent even though every member of the House had just won the popular vote in his or her district.

However, the poor performance of the Reid-Pelosi Congress surely helps account for the decline since that time. As I noted the other day, Congress has started to resist the ethics reform it promised voters, legislation that might help reverse prevailing perceptions of Congress and make that body less inherently unpopular.

But it's not just Democratic addiction to the "culture of corruption" that's at work here. The fact is that this Congress has failed thus far to enact any high-profile domestic legislation. As the Washington Post puts it, "not a single priority on the Democrats' agenda has been enacted, and some in the party are growing nervous that the "do nothing" tag they slapped on the Republicans last year could come back to haunt the party."

Perhaps Nancy Pelosi should discontinue her foolish outreach program to anti-American Middle Eastern dictators and focus more on enacting the reform legislation she promised the American people.

UPDATE: John Hinderaker has more on this story at Power Line.

In a post from earlier today, John Hinderaker noted how House Democrats are keeping Andrews Air Force base hopping with their various taxpayer subsidized junkets around the world (and I'm not talking about Syria). Although the House Dems ran against the "culture of corruption" in Congress, the subtext apparently was their desire to gain control of the institution in order to take maximum advantage of that culture. The story of politicians running against corruption only to succumb eventually to the very corruption they oppose is familiar one. What's unique here is the absence of a transition period -- when it comes awarding themselves perks at the taxpayers expense, the Dems have hit the ground running.

But a closer look shows that the Dems never really curtailed their corruption when they were out of power. As noted here and here, leading House Dems including Jack Murtha, William Jefferson, John Conyers, Bennie Thompson, and Alan Mollohan have been major players in the culture of corruption.

The 12 years during which the House Dems were out of power could not have been pleasant. High caliber members like Dick Gephardt and Vic Fazio, despairing of the party's ability to recapture the majority and put them in a position where they could do good (as they see it), eventually left in frustration. Many who stayed probably did so because of the perks available even to minority members, as well (in some cases) as the opportunities for personal enrichment. Perhaps they figured that being a congressman beats working for a living; perhaps they were not much in demand in the business world. In any case, now that their power has been restored we shouldn't be surprised to see stories like the one about their travel excesses.

By 1994, when the voters finally got fed up with the Democrats and handed control of Congress to the Republicans, the Democrats had pretty much turned the institution into a three ring circus. Only three months after regaining power, the Democrats haven't reached their nadir of the early 1990s, but they're well on the way.

In the Examiner, Charles Hurt reports that the Democrats are losing no time awarding themselves perks, now that they are in the Congressional majority:

Congress is keeping Andrews Air Force base plenty busy this year ferrying lawmakers all over the globe at taxpayers' expense. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi took his wife, nine Democrats and two Republicans - Reps. Dan Lungren of California and Mike Rogers of Alabama - on a whirlwind tour of the Caribbean last week. After stops in Honduras and Mexico, they stopped in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where the delegation stayed at the five-star Caneel Bay resort.

In a separate trip to the Caribbean last week, Rep. Eliot Engel of New York squired his wife and four Democratic members to Grenada and Trinidad.

All told, the military flew at least 13 congressional delegations to various destinations during the Easter recess -- at an estimated rate of $10,000 or more per flying hour.

Yes, and just think about all that carbon dioxide. More:

...House guidelines also stipulate that delegations include members of both parties to qualify for military planes -- a requirement that Speaker Nancy Pelosi waived for Engel's group and two other delegations.

Some of the excuses for the Dems' junkets bordered on hilarious:

Thompson's office said he toured the Caribbean because he now chairs the Homeland Security Committee and wanted to see vacation hot spots to "examine border security and port security." Three other members of the delegation also brought along their spouses.

"They are going from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. everyday," a committee spokeswoman told The Examiner. "They do not have down time."

At the Caneel Bay resort, where room rates reach $1,100 per night, the spokeswoman said Thompson and his wife paid the "government rate." But, according to the reservations department, Caneel Bay doesn't "offer any government rates."

Maxine Waters is one Congresswoman who really gets around:

Traveling with Engel and his wife were Reps. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Tex., and Barbara Lee, D-Calif. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., who went to Belgium in a delegation led by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., earlier in the week, also joined Engel's Caribbean trip. She brought her husband with her.

The Caribbean is nice this time of year, but some Congressmen prefer Europe:

Frank's trip to Belgium and London was related to his work as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, according to his office. The trip, which also included Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., was designed "to further understand the interrelationship between various issues related to the financial services regulatory structures" of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, according to Frank's office.

Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., also led a trip to Belgium over the two-week Easter recess. In February, Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, took a delegation there.

Makes sense to me. I mean, if you want to understand "financial services regulatory structures," you need to tour some Belgian banks so you can see for yourself. I'm a little unsure, though, how Belgium fits in with Oberstar's committee duties, which he describes as follows:

As the senior Democrat on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I serve as an Ex Officio member of the Subcommittees on Aviation, Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation, Public Buildings & Economic Development, Railroads, Surface Transportation, and Water Resources & Environment. I have worked tirelessly to improve safety and efficiency for the traveling public.

I suppose he could be worried about the safety of those New York to Brussels flights. You have to admire Oberstar: putting his life on the line for his constituents!

Their twelve years in the wilderness reminded the Democrats of the perks they missed out on by losing the majority. Unfortunately, their conduct now that they're once more in charge is likely to remind the voters why they tossed them out last time around.