Impaired lawmakers typically serve out their terms

Impaired lawmakers typically serve out their terms
Even if Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords were incapacitated for an extended period, it would be nearly unprecedented for the House to remove her from office before her term expired. Only once has the House declared a lawmaker's seat vacant due to physical or mental impairment. Rep. Gladys N. Spellman, D-Md., suffered a severe Heart Attack on Oct. 31, 1980, that left her in a coma. A few days later, voters re-elected the popular lawmaker to a fourth term. In February 1981 the House approved by ...

Brewer: Arizona is a place of 'heroes'
Tucson, Ariz. — Gov. Jan Brewer made an impassioned defense of her state Tuesday in the same city where a local sheriff decried Arizona as a “mecca of intolerance and Bigotry.” “Since Saturday, all of us have read and heard a lot about the state of Arizona,” she said. “I want to speak to you about the Arizona I know, the place we saw again even on such an awful Saturday,” Brewer told nearly 700 civil and business leaders who had gathered for her Speech...

History says Giffords will serve out term
The Associated Press takes on the delicate topic of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' future as a lawmaker: Even if Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords were incapacitated for an extended period, it would be nearly unprecedented for the House to remove her from office before her term expired. Only once has the House declared a lawmaker's seat vacant due to physical or mental impairment. Rep. Gladys N. Spellman, D-Md., suffered a severe Heart Attack on Oct...

Doctor: Giffords breathing on her own
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was breathing on her own and moving both arms after being shot in the head, doctors said Tuesday. Mrs. Giffords still has a breathing tube to prevent infections such as Pneumonia, said Dr. Michael Lemole, her neurosurgeon. "I'm happy to say that she's holding her own," he said. Mrs. Giffords, a three-time Democrat, remained in critical condition at Tucson's University Medical Center since Saturday, when she was shot during a meeting with con...

Leading evangelical halts effort to increase political civility
By Dan Gilgoff, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor At a moment when many Americans are decrying the overheated tone of American politics, an influential Evangelical voice said Tuesday he is folding a project he helped found to increase political civility. Mark DeMoss said he is halting the initiative, called the Civility Project, due to lack of interest. “After only three members of Congress agreed to sign this Civility Pledge last year I’ve decided to shut it down,” DeMoss told CNN by e-mail on

Arizona governor asks residents to pray for victims
TUCSON, Arizona | Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:49pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer asked Arizonans on Tuesday to pray for the Victims of a Tucson Shooting Spree that killed six people and wounded 14. Devoting most of her annual State of the State Speech to the rampage, Brewer called it "something dark and ugly", according to a transcript of the Speech released by her office. Among those injured in the shooting on Saturday were Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who investig...

AM Alert: Special elections
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to ask voters to add five years to the lifespan of temporary Tax Increases set to expire dominated yesterday's campaign-related chatter. Brown wants that statewide Special Election scheduled for June, creating a short window for legislators to act on his Budget plan. But campaign junkies are also keeping an eye on two other special Elections quick approaching -- the Feb. 15 primary contests to fill vacancies in the 17th and 28th Senate districts. Secretary of Stat...

Arizona legislature expected to block Westboro protest
We picket the Funerals to make these vital points to the living! If you heed, it is life and health and peace and God sent the shooter! Praise God for ALL his works, and BE YE THANKFUL! Before your blood reaches the boiling point, take some solace in the fact that the Arizona legislature is sending a message of its own. The body is expected to vote today to make it a Misdemeanor to Protest within 300 feet of a funeral from one hour before until one hour after the services have ended. Jeff Rogers...

Democrats Want Open Primaries For North Dakota
I’m not necessarily opposed to it. What makes for good government is political competition. Making it easier for Candidates to get on the general ballot means more competition. That’s a good thing, but I’m wondering what’s motivating Democrats to push for this. Because I don’t think it’s inter-party competition: Corey Mock of Grand Forks and Assistant Minority Leader Lee Kaldor of Mayville have introduced Legislation aimed a fixing one of those problems. Durin...

Brown sets May 3 special election for 4th Assembly District
Gov. Jerry Brown has called a Special Election for May 3 to fill the vacant 4th Assembly District seat. Candidates to replace Roseville Republican Ted Gaines, who was elected to the Senate last week, will first vie in a top-two style primary on March 8. If no candidate wins 50 percent of the vote, the two top vote-getters, regardless of party, will go head to head in a runoff May 3. Republicans John Allard, a Roseville city councilman, and Michael Babich, a businessman who lost a primary con...

Gabrielle Giffords' Medical Status
The video below is from yesterday, but there's updated news this afternoon. At Also, at Tucson Sentinel, "Doc: Giffords '100 Percent' Certain to Survive" (via Memeorandum): Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is "100 percent" certain to survive, said Dr. Peter Rhee, a surgeon treating her for a gunshot wound to the head. "As a physician I'm going to get into a lot of trouble for this, but her prognosis for survival is 100 percent, as far as it being short term," Rhee told Britain's Channel 4 News ....At N...

Pines to choose commissioner Tuesday after contentious race
With Property Tax rolls at rock bottom and municipal leaders struggling to control costs and rescue failed Real Estate investments, there's a lot at stake in Tuesday's Special Election for Pembroke Pines city commissioner. But those issues are not what Candidates Angelo Castillo and Michell ``Mike'' Rubinstein are arguing about in the final stretch of the campaign. Instead, they're engaged in old-fashioned mudslinging. The election was forced by Castillo's Resignation from the Pines Commission...

Repeal vote postponed, but will Giffords shooting change debate?
House Republican leadership immediately postponed the vote on repealing the Affordable Care Act after Saturday's shootings that killed six and left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords critically injured. Congressional Quarterly's Congress.org is hopeful that the Rhetoric in the debate once Congress takes it back up will "settle down." “There will be a time of introspection,” said Rep. Michael C. Burgess of Texas, a physician and vice chairman of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on ...

Arizona Passes Bill Making It Illegal to Protest Near a Funeral
Christina Taylor Green ​Following up on today's earlier post about the Westboro Baptist Church's intended picketing of the Funeral service for Christina Taylor Green, the 9-year-old killed in the shooting in Tucson on Saturday, we've learned that Arizona legislators have approved emergency Legislation that would make it a Misdemeanor to Protest within 300 feet of Funeral or burial sites. The House and Senate voted unanimously on the bill, which goes to Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today ...

Gregoire: Lawmakers need to be 'bold'
Associated Press OLYMPIA. — Gov. Chris Gregoire wants the Legislature to be "bold" as the state faces a moribund economy and tackles a state Budget that is billions in the red. In her State of the State address Tuesday, the Democratic Governor told a joint session of the House and Senate that lawmakers need to remake how State Government works, not just cut services to balance the budget. And heeding the symbolic message of voters in November, when new taxes were voted down and an initia...

Arizona Shooting: Boxer Calls For Tougher Federal Gun Laws
Los Angeles Times: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Tuesday called for tougher federal Gun Laws, including banning large ammunition clips and federal regulations on Concealed Weapons permits, in the wake of the shooting rampage in Tucson that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) gravely wounded. Boxer, appearing at a Press Conference in Riverside, said the Federal Bureau of Investigation also should keep track of seriously mentally ill people with a history of vio...

What Did Sheriff Dupnik Know and When Did He Know It?
The Arizona shootings have made Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, the man in charge of investigating the tragedy, a liberal hero for his comments targeting what he calls the "irresponsible" political Rhetoric of Conservatives. But he also has critics who say his department was well aware of Jared Loughner's mental instability and may have been slow to respond to death threats the suspect made in the months leading up to Saturday's rampage. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for thos...

Pete King: We Need to Stop the Fear
Rep. Pete King thinks cops need the power to stop people carrying guns within 1,000 feet of federal officials because Americans are becoming afraid of listening to lawmakers in public. The powerful Long Island Republican who chairs the Homeland Security Committee thinks the Arizona shootings that killed six and left Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) with a bullet hole in her head have deeply chilled regular Americans. "I’ve gotten people saying, 'Hey, you’re a good guy -- do...

Dollars & Sense: Verizons iPhone; 15 hot cars of the future
Arizona shooting Six people were killed and 14 others wounded, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona....

Shot US politician can now breathe on her own
Gabrielle Giffords with her husband, NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly. Photo: AP The Arizona politician shot in the head in an attack that killed six in Tucson remains in critical condition but is now capable of breathing on her own, doctors said. "She's holding her own," said Michael Lemole, the head neurosurgeon who operated on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, adding on Tuesday that she was still responding to simple commands, a key sign for her recovery prospects. "In fact, she's able to generate h...

Rick Santorum Opposes Bullseye Ban
By Grant Bosse (MANCHESTER, NH) Rick Santorum doesn’t want to restrict Political Speech in the wake of this weekend’s shooting in Tuscon, Arizona. The former Republican Senator discussed calls for toning down fiery political Rhetoric following the attempted Assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on Saturday, which left six people dead. Congressman Robert Brady (D-PA) has proposed banning cross-hairs and bullseyes in political ads, as liberal commentators have tried to tie accu...

Daily scoreboard
1. From the Baltimore Sun: If the cold keeps up, the Chesapeake Bay may freeze over. First time in 7 years. Which was 2004. Which was one of those Hottest Years Ever. Under tough luck, you stole the Browns rule… GOOD. 2. From the Associated Press: “The Food and Drug Administration, which has long maintained that the Supreme Court freed it from any authority to regulate drugs used in executions, has quietly helped Arizona and California obtain a quick overseas source of lethal sodiu...

Tuesday's Mini-Report
TUESDAY'S MINI-REPORT.... Today's edition of quick hits: * It seems hard to even imagine, but Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is already able to breathe on her own, though she remains in critical condition. One of her doctors told reporters today, "She has no right to look this good." * Speaking from China today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said North Korea's nuclear and intercontinental Ballistic Missile programs are "becoming a direct threat to the United States." * Gates' visit just ha...

Silence Is Complicity and Defensiveness Is Endorsement
When, for instance, Sarah Palin responds to the shooting by scrubbing her website but not by apologizing for her violent imagery aimed at Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, that simultaneously says she knows she may be partially responsible for violent culture, but unwilling to state that publicly so as to change that culture. When Arizona Tea Party Leaders condemn the violence but then nonetheless make a show of publicly refusing to refrain from violent Rhetoric, they are acknowledging the tragedy whi...

Today in Comprehensive Solutions
[Long Island Republican] Rep. Peter King said Tuesday he plans to introduce a new gun safety bill in Congress in the wake of the Mass Shooting in Arizona that killed six people and wounded 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. King said his bill would make it illegal to knowingly carry a gun within a thousand feet of "certain high-profile" government officials. Oooookay. I guess that's one option. Hooray for safety! [Long Island Republican] Rep. Peter King said Tuesday he plans ...