The Musgrave Watch

Woo Hoo! The Musgrave Watch's 100th post!!! (Who woulda thought...)

In keeping with my push to keep Marilyn’s numerous past misadventures and calamities in the forefront (see my last post) I am putting my money where my mouth is on this one.

(Who thought up that saying anyway? You shouldn’t actually put money in your mouth…it’s usually very unsanitary…and if you have a nickel allergy it can be a really bad thing to do…)

So let’s chat about H.R.5, a bill that came before the House vote on January 17, 2007. This bill was to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce interest rates for student borrowers. This is known as the College Student Relief Act of 2007 and will “provide debt relief for over five million students and families by cutting interest rates in half for undergraduate borrowers of subsidized loans.”

Here’s some points about H.R.5 by George Miller (D-CA) who introduced the bill on January 12th:

…as you know college affordability is one of the most important issues facing students and families. With the significant increases in tuition over the last five years our nation's students and families will finally get some much needed help with their student loans. Millions of college students and parents of college students are struggling to come up with the financial resources to pay for college. And many would-be students--as many as 200,000 per year--are choosing to delay or forgo attending college altogether because they can't afford it.

This debt problem affects all of us. Public service professions like teaching are suffering, because graduates cannot manage their college debt on public service salaries. Nearly a quarter of recent college graduates have too much debt to manage on a starting teacher's salary. This poses a serious threat not just to students and families, but to our Nation's economy and to the future of our workforce.

Today, we are finally taking our Nation's students and families in a New Direction by making college affordability a top priority. Once fully phased in, these cuts will save the typical borrower with $13,800 in need based federal loan debt roughly $4,400 over the life of their loan. In my home State of California, this bill will save the typical borrower $4,830 over the life of their loan. This will be an important first step towards making college more affordable and accessible for millions of low-income and middle class students.

As Chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, one of our top priorities will be to continue to lower college costs for all qualified students. I look forward to seeing this bill pass through the House with overwhelming support and bringing help to our students and families.

Sounds like a heckuva good idea, doesn’t it? Legislators on both sides of the isle agree with you, as the bill passed the House five days later with a resounding bipartisan vote of 356-71. But guess who one of those 71 “nay” votes came from?

Sure ‘nuff…Marilyn Musgrave voted against the College Student Relief Act of 2007. It’s once again a bit of a stumper for me, since Marilyn almost always votes robotically along the GOP party line, and the majority opinion of Republicans in the House of Representatives was Yes for the passage of this bill (124 voted “yea”). It has been one of the most overwhelmingly bi-partisan actions of the House to date since the 2006 elections. So why is she so far out in right field on this one?

Well your first gut reaction would be the anti-poor and middle class voting record she has (and recently has tried so hard to conceal). Remember…this bill has been described as:

…an important first step towards making college more affordable and accessible for millions of low-income and middle class students.

This just may be the reason for Musgrave’s vote against making low-income and middle class college education affordable. It fits with most of her other votes and actions.

However in comments that were quoted in The Rocky Mountain Collegian (Colorado State University’s school newspaper) by Vimal Patel stated the following:

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, who represents the district, voted against the bill. The conservative congresswoman said slashing interest rates on student loans does nothing to make college more affordable or accessible, since students don't have to worry about interest rates until after college.

But Musgrave was unwavering in her stance. She and other conservatives argue that the main issue of college affordability lies in tuition increases, not interest rates. "Having worked on the House Education Committee, I know we can do a better job with college access and affordability," Musgrave said in a statement, according to Gannett News Service.

In that Collegian article, CSU Political Science Professor John Straayer made the following comments on Musgrave’s refusal to vote with the bipartisan Congress:

Straayer said there are those on the right and left who have unbending ideologies, and Musgrave is one of them. "You can call it rigid, you can call it principled," Straayer said. "Whether you like her or dislike her, she's got a particular ideological compass and she runs with it. Period."

That definitely says it all…Musgrave’s “ideological compass” once again steered her so far to the ultra-conservative right that she abandoned what the vast majority of the House of Representatives felt was necessary to support higher education in the United States in the future.

Period.

Keep the faith…

Michael Dunkle

Recently I spotted another great blog post...

The Political Cat

Take a few minutes to read this. Not only did The Cat do a great job reporting on the recent "God Display" motion that Musgrave spun out a while back but they did another great thing...they brought up some of the Marilyn's previous garbage (such as her blatant and abhorrent use of uniformed military troops to promote her campaign in 2006).

Why is this important? Because Marilyn Musgrave immediately went under the radar after November, 2006. Once she saw the terrible showing she had in that election and simultaneously witnessed the sweeping arm of truth and fairness wipe most of her cronies off the political map that same day, Marilyn realized that she couldn't continue to prance around Washington and spout off whatever bigoted nonsense and religion-themed politics that she wanted to. In fact, she has desperately tried to remake her image in the year since that election (though she hasn't done a very good job to date.)

So it is vital for all of us, both in the mainstream media and the political blogosphere, to continue to report again and again on Musgrave's previous antics...not just in Congress but in her entire political career (the Rolling Stone article that The Political Cat mentions takes it all the way back to her horrible days as a school board member). The main brunt of this task falls to the bloggers and other citizen-journalists out there; remember that digital media has near endless space and many of us only have a few things that we cover. The MSM is often constrained by time and available space...so it is our duty to support them in covering what they can't. Thomas Friedman coined the idea that "The World is Flat" (which if you haven't read this book...you should immediately go out and get a copy) and if we as bloggers don't take advantage of that flattened advantage we have been given, then we'll be left behind when the wave sweeps by and people like Marilyn Musgrave will body surf on it to survive.

So kudos to other blogs like The Political Cat that keep reminding us that Marilyn Musgrave didn't change her stripes...she has just tried to paint over them.

Keep the faith...

Michael Dunkle

Guess Marilyn’s Food Bank visit was just too much for only one post…

Ok, I have to give Sarah Bultema of the Loveland Reporter-Herald the benefit of the doubt here. While I’ve said the campaign season is indeed heating up early for the 2008 race, I’d hazard a guess that it hasn’t touched the hearts of every political journalist in Northern Colorado with fervor quite yet. I know there is still a lot to report on other exciting things (travelers still overreacting about last year’s Christmas blizzard that closed DIA, people shelling out as much as $800 for a Wii, the iPhone…etc.) but The Reporter-Herald Regional Desk needs to realize that Musgrave’s visit to the Food Bank was not a fluffy visit for the holidays to spread good tidings and cheer to all the Cratchet families of Larimer County. It was a political media event geared at one thing…trying to brighten the dark, dank, tarnished image of Marilyn Musgrave’s record of turning a blind eye to the poor and needy of Colorado.

Jason Kosnea’s article in The Coloradoan obviously saw the Food Bank event for what it was. In his article Kosnea mentions the fact that Marilyn voted against the final version of the Farm Bill that passed the House and is now in debate in the Senate. He goes on to point out that the reason Musgrave voted against the Farm Bill was because of the tax increases for multi-national agricultural companies that were included in the version that passed the House. Lastly, another clearly apparent point that Kosnea recognized this as a campaign media event disguised as holiday cheer is that he interviewed and got a statement from Democratic challenger Betsy Markey, who seeks to finally unseat the unstable regime of Marilyn Musgrave in 2008.

Even more ironic about this entire media event that Musgrave put on (I mentioned this in my last post on the Food Bank but it is so poignant that it needs repeating) is the fact that Betsy Markey was the Chair of the Food Bank for Larimer County for four years and led a million dollar capital raising campaign during her tenure. All the while that Marilyn was trying to convince us that she’s the champion for the needy families of her constituency she was in fact helping her political rival’s campaign. Betsy Markey already held that title of Champion. How do I know? Because Betsy’s name is engraved on the walls of the very Food Bank Musgrave was using to suck up to us for the holiday season. Bultema’s article in the Reporter-Herald said it all with this statement:

“Chuck Gill, the assistant director of the Food Bank for Larimer County, said Musgrave was the first member of Congress to volunteer at the pantry…”

In fact…it was Marilyn’s first visit period to the Food Bank…I’m sure she had to have someone in her office MapQuest it for her.

So…lesson number one for Bultema…there is nothing cute, warm, and fuzzy about politics, even when a candidate tries to do so around the holidays. It used to be called “kissing babies” but it has just gotten a little more complex these days. Again…don’t get me wrong…I have the utmost respect for the mainstream Northern Colorado media…but in many instances the role of bloggers is to conduct “open-source intelligence gathering,” and often we find more information and additional content than was available to the professionals at that time their particular article is written. Besides…we citizen-journalists have more time to spend on one particular subject. Bultema more than likely had a lot more to cover and report than just Marilyn’s desperate and hopeless pity stop. In my case…it’s the only thing I had to cover.

However Bultema’s article had some huge stuff in it (particularly for me). When it hit my news aggregator this morning I almost choked and sprayed my first cup of java all over my ottoman. Here’s what I was so happy to read in the Reporter-Herald article this morning (because I had more ammo to start my day):

Having grown up in a needy family herself, U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave volunteered Tuesday at the Food Bank for Larimer County in Fort Collins.

“It’s just really very touching,” she said in between handing out bags of food to the dozens of people in line.

“It puts a constant awareness in front of me that there are still people in this society in need.”
As she worked, Musgrave remembered one Christmas in which her family received a food basket from the Salvation Army.

“I grew up very poor in Greeley,” she said, recalling each food item that was included in that basket.

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

(That last one is really the best...isn't it?)

Yet once again, faithful readers, I can’t make this crap up.

First off…Marilyn couldn’t be more condescending if she had tossed some fake tears in that. Secondly…let’s tie some of these statements into context. Let's use that last statement that boggles the mind...

"Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart."

Now repeat that quote from Marilyn Musgrave over and over in your head (let’s call it the “Poor Marilyn Mantra”) as you read the following facts…

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

Fact: Marilyn Musgrave voted against the SCHIP reauthorization that would have provided many, many more families with Medicaid for their children that could not afford it. Again…for the kids of needy families.

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

Fact: Marilyn Musgrave supported the subsequent veto of SCHIP by President Bush that killed the bi-partisan movement to reauthorize it with the new and stronger support of American children in need of basic healthcare.

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

Fact: Marilyn Musgrave then crafted a bill that is a shadow of the original and has tried to herald it as the “Great Thing That I Have Done For The Poor.” Her revised SCHIP bill has little, if any, bi-partisan support as the original did and is again an obvious campaign tactic.

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

Fact: Marilyn Musgrave voted against the Farm Bill of 2007 that passed the House and is now in debate on the Senate floor. This is the Farm Bill that will bring more funding to Food Banks across the United States – including the one Marilyn used Tuesday in an attempt to bolster her political campaign.

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

Fact: The reason Marilyn voted against the Farm Bill was that it increased taxes for multinational agricultural companies…the ones that she protects the pockets of that line her own pockets with campaign contributions. That meant more to her than the hungry families that she handed food bags to for a few hours.

“Whenever I see poor people, it really touches my heart.”

Kind of hard to keep saying the Poor Marilyn Mantra over and over when you look at the facts, isn’t it? That’s because it boils down to this:

Marilyn Musgrave (if we trust her own statements) did grow up very poor and was once indeed from a needy family that received Salvation Army food baskets at Christmas. (If you remember she once made a public statement that she lived in “Mexican Shacks” as a child – we’ll leave that one for another day). However, by her actions and her voting record, she has forgotten her poverty laden past and has ignored her responsibility to the families and children in need that reside in her own constituency. Instead she has pandered to the interests of the ultra-wealthy that have in turn rewarded her with campaign contributions, votes, and the support to put her into a congressional seat for what has become too many years. In short…she neglects the poor and protects the rich.

And that Marilyn…is indeed rich…

Keep the faith…

Michael Dunkle

Just a quick note...there's a GREAT post from Musgrave Must Go entitled "Marilyn Musgrave Two-Faced on Mining" about her big talk on mining reform in Colorado while she takes big money from the Mining PACs.

Check it out!

http://musgravemustgo.blogspot.com/

The poliblogs are heating up!

Keep the faith...

Michael

Marilyn Musgrave gave out candy on Tuesday to hungry Larimer County kids while conducting one of her typical desperate media games at the Food Bank for Larimer County (no dentists were present apparently). Her message was of her concern for “the impact on low-income families in Larimer County if the 2007 Farm Bill, stalled in the U.S. Senate, doesn't pass by the end of the year.” Once again the doublespeak that we get from Marilyn makes you wonder whether or not she thinks up these things for herself or if there is some dark figure behind the scenes scripting this inane rhetoric for her. Whoever it is also seems to think that Marilyn’s constituents and the rest of Colorado’s voters are either ignorant, uneducated, or both.

The candy she fed those kids might have been chewy, sweet, and delicious, but the candy she’s trying to feed the rest of us is laced with the razor blades, sewing needles, and empty calories of political Grade A crapola. So let’s take a quick X-Ray of these tasteless sweets that Marilyn wants us to rot our teeth on:

In an article covering this media circus, The Coloradoan reported the following quote from Musgrave:

"I'm impatient and I'm discouraged," Musgrave said. "But, I do know that these kinds of struggles are typical toward the end of the year. You just hope that (the Senate) can sit down and decide what and how many amendments should be included and then get it passed."

She should know about these struggles, she’s one of the ones creating them. Before we go off and think that Marilyn has these huge concerns for our hungry of Colorado, let’s remember one huge point that the Jason Kosena does make in his article.

“Musgrave voted against the final version of the Farm Bill in the House because of tax increases that were written in for multi-national agricultural companies doing business in the United States.”

That’s right, faithful readers. The very bill that Musgrave is worried the Senate might not pass is the very one that she voted against. It passed the House just fine and went on to the Senate for a vote. But the version that is currently before the Senate contains tax increases for “multi-national agricultural companies doing business in the United States.” Those tax increases for those companies are why Musgrave voted against the bill that she now hopes “the Senate can sit down...and then get it passed.” Does that seem odd to you that she’s asking the Senate to pass a bill she voted against? It shouldn’t. Here’s just a few reasons why…

United Agri Products – largest independent distributor of chemicals, fertilizer, and seed to farmers in the U.S. and Canada. Headquarters: Greeley, Colorado

Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding – the current cattle feedlot operation that remains from the merger of the original companies of Smithfield Foods (acquired Monfort/ConAgra feedlots) and ContiGroup feedlots. ContiGroup is worldwide in nine countries; Smithfield is in something like thirteen. Headquarters: Loveland, Colorado

Swift & Co. Second largest processor of beef and pork products in the world. “A global powerhouse” with sales exceeding $10 billion. Just a little company headquartered in? You guessed it: Greeley, Colorado.

We could go on…but I see no need for redundancy here. The reason Marilyn voted against the version of the Farm Bill that is currently in debate in the Senate is because of the tax increases for the “multi-national agricultural companies.” Many of which are right in her own backyard with very, very deep pockets. These multi-national agricultural companies are one of the major reasons she’s in Congress to begin with.

So here’s the rub. Marilyn desperately needs some positive media regarding low income families in her district. With her SCHIP debacle, her failure to protect her low income constituents from predatory lenders, and her sad vote against the Farm Bill that will bring millions of dollars to Colorado Food Banks, she’s got to do something to bring up her heavily tarnished reputation regarding the needy of CO CD-04. So she visits the Larimer Food Bank, hands out some candy to kids for the photographers, and in the midst of the blinding flashes she makes a statement suggesting she actually wants the Senate to pass the Farm Bill of 2007. When in reality she doesn’t. Because what’s really important to Marilyn are the rich…not the poor. And she’s hoping you didn’t notice that…

You know…the only real issue I had with Kosena’s article in The Coloradoan was the fact that Betsy Markey’s huge involvement with the Food Bank of Larimer County was not mentioned at all. Betsy was the Chair of the Food Bank for four years. She built up the phenomenal strength of the Larimer Food Bank with a million dollar capital campaign. Betsy Markey did so much for the Food Bank of Larimer County that her name is engraved on a big sign at the front of the building it resides in. During Betsy’s tenure with the Food Bank, Marilyn Musgrave never once visited, called, or had any involvement whatsoever with it. If you want to talk about which candidate for the 4th CD supports funding for Colorado Food Banks and feeding low income families then it would seem Betsy Markey’s name should’ve should come up.

Now look…I’m the first one to say that in the mainstream media there is no unlimited space (like we have here in the blogosphere) so one article cannot carry every bit of information. And you all know that I’ve every respect for The Coloradoan (I’ve had lots of great dealings with more than one writer for the paper and Bob Moore – the Executive Editor – has been an extremely helpful resource over the years with political blogs – including The Musgrave Watch – and other alternative media sources). However in this instance a good part of the boat was missed. This was a politically motivated media event that The Coloradoan covered, no doubt about it. The campaign season is here like it or not. The fact that they got a quote from Markey as the “4th Congressional District candidate Betsy Markey” is proof positive that this was a political media article. However with the heavy positive image portrayed for Musgrave and the lack of mentioning Markey’s involvement with the Food Bank, The Coloradoan has inaccurately portrayed itself as supporting Musgrave’s campaign very early in the campaign season. That is a mistake in my opinion for a newspaper that usually reports the political scene in Colorado from an unbiased stance.

I need to take a moment to write an amendment to this original post. Based on the information I had at the time it was written, it seemed that Jason Kosena may have neglected to research thoroughly enough for this article and that this attributed to the lack of mention of Betsy Markey's history with the Food Bank of Larimer County. After communicating through e-mail with both Jason and Bob Moore...this was an erroneous assumption. Rather, the Markey campaign had been contacted by Jason before the article ran (note that there are comments from Betsy Markey regarding Marilyn Musgrave's visit to the Food Bank and her statements on the Farm Bill in Jason's article) but they did not take the opportunity at that time to give Jason the information on Betsy Markey's history with the Food Bank. The Markey campaign did bring this information to light after the article was published on Tuesday, but obviously Jason did not have this information prior to the article hitting the streets. Apologies all around to Jason, Bob, and The Coloradoan and its staff and editors...and it's nice to reaffirm my previous statements of respect for The Coloradoan's fair and unbiased reporting of the political scene in Northern Colorado.

Here’s an official statement by Betsy Markey I received from her campaign regarding her support (actual support…not the word-twisting Marilyn did) of the Farm Bill of 2007.

The 2007 Farm Bill is among the most important pieces of legislation the U.S. Congress will consider this year. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives in July will directly impact our farmers, ranchers, rural communities, and Food Banks across Colorado. Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave voted against the Farm Bill.

More than 35 million Americans are living on the brink of hunger, and over 20,000 local residents receive assistance each year through the government's Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) administered by the Food Bank for Larimer County. "The government's commodity food program is a cost-effective partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture, local farmers and Food Banks who distribute food to individuals in need, said Betsy Markey, Democratic candidate for the Fourth Congressional District and former President of the Board of Directors for the Food Bank for Larimer County.

The vote in the House was not as strong as it could have been because some Republicans, like Marilyn Musgrave, decided to put tax-evading corporations ahead of American farmers and food banks. In keeping with the newly implemented "pay-as-you-go" budget rules, House Democrats included a revenue-raising provision to ensure that the new farm spending was fully paid for. That provision would crack down on U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies that reduce their U.S. tax bills by passing profits through international tax havens, ensuring that foreign corporations pay their fair share in U.S. taxes.

"I strongly support the House-passed Farm Bill, and fiscal discipline demands that we fully offset any new spending or tax cuts. I believe that cracking down on tax-evading corporations is an appropriate way to accomplish these goals" said Betsy Markey.

Let’s hope that when the time comes for the farmers, ranchers, agricultural workers, Food Bank volunteers, and needy families to step into the voting booth next November that they remember who actually supported the Farm Bill, and who cast her vote against it while trying to lie to you about her intentions.

Moral of this story…don’t take candy from strangers and corrupt members of Congress. It just doesn’t taste very good.

Keep the faith…

Michael Dunkle

**This post was amended at 11:15pm on Thursday, November 29th, 2007.**

Wow!

Just wanted to take a second to let everyone know how quickly the nation is taking notice of the race in CO CD-04.

Got a note from Michael Rogers, Publisher and Editor of PageOneQ based out of Washington, D.C., one of the nation's premier sources for LGBT news, info, and events. The Musgrave Watch is currently listed as their top "Reader's Picks" on PageOneQ's home page.

They picked up our feed during the '06 election...really great to see that we're listed again this time around.

Thanks to Michael from PageOneQ for the head's up...

Amazing how fast the ball gotten rolling for '08!

Keep the faith...

Michael Dunkle

This is going to get to be a bit of a political science/history lesson (some geeks like myself enjoyed our American Government classes in high school…other suffered through it). For those that suffered…I apologize for what follows.

However Marilyn Musgrave apparently needs a refresher in basic U.S. History and Government herself…here are a few reasons why:

Back in June of 2006, Marilyn tried to make a move to set up Christianity as the state religion of the United States. Whether or not this was an election ploy of some sort is debatable, as the 2006 elections were heating up at the time. There was probably still a belief in the summer of ’06 by many in Congress that the ultra conservative religious right still had enough power to dictate who was elected to office and what our national policy would be based on their religious values and views. Most of those that thought that way found themselves cleaning out their desks following the elections four months later. Marilyn herself won Colorado’s 4th District by only 45.61% – some meager 5984 total votes, making her the winner of the esteemed title “Member of Congress Receiving the Lowest Percentage of the Vote” for that election. If she thought this would bolster her chances as a candidate or just be a good thing to spend her Congressional time doing is probably a moot point…because her thoughts weren’t in the best interests of our country.

What Marilyn did was sponsor a resolution to ask the President (a.k.a. ‘Lil George’) to proclaim 2007 as the “National Year of the Bible.” The resolution text requested that President Bush issue a proclamation calling on all citizens to "rediscover and apply the priceless and timeless message of the Bible" and encourage them to join the U.S. Federal government in celebrating the year with Bible "programs, ceremonies, and activities." This resolution quickly died in committee. (If you haven’t already said it…the operative word here would be, “duh.”)

Additionally…here are some other interesting, and somewhat disturbing, religiously influenced things Marilyn has done and said. In 2005, she gave credit to Coral Ridge Ministries founder D. James Kennedy as an inspiration for her to enter politics.

“When I first started listening to D. James Kennedy on Truths That Transform," she said, "I was so encouraged that there was a minister of the Gospel that said what was right and what was wrong, and what our responsibility was as Christians in this great nation… Those kind of things just grew in me through the years, and then, here I am [today] voting on moral issues.”


In 2007 she joined the Congressional Prayer Caucus, whose stated purpose is to "build a spiritual wall around America." (Apparently we need more walls…)

Then in May of 2007, Marilyn participated in a "Bible Reading Marathon" event on the West Front of the US Capitol. This set up by the National Day of Prayer Task force, run by Shirley Dobson, wife of James Dobson (I don’t need to tell you who James Dobson is…do I? He does a pretty good job of that himself.) The Washington Post pointed out that this is probably why Marilyn Musgrave showed up as a speaker at the National Day of Prayer. Dobson arguably has more clout with Marilyn than her own constituents. Most interesting in the Wash Post article covering the event was that the host of the event was the International Bible Reading Association and their spokesperson was one Jeff Gannon. You won’t remember the name Jeff Gannon…because it’s a pseudonym for his real name, James Guckert. Guckert used to run a conservative website and was able to attend White House briefings…that is until everyone saw the nude pictures of Guckert on the internet offering his services as a $200-an-hour gay escort. Less interesting is that the maximum number of people that showed up to the event was 37…most of those were tourists needing somewhere to sit and eat lunch.

One has to wonder if Marilyn, not exactly known for her love of the gay community, knew about Gannon/Guckert’s side job on HotMilitaryStud.com.

Last, but certainly not least, were her statements during the 2002 Republican primary debate with opponent Jeff Beddingfield. During that debate she publicly stated that the First Amendment “does not offer freedom from religion.” Aside from that terrifying statement, she has gone on to say,

“The problems in our culture are just symptoms of spiritual problems in our nation. We must return to God and biblical principles for answers. There are limitations to what we can do, but I’m so thankful I have a voice and a vote.”

Ok Marilyn…here’s your lesson on constitutional law and the Bill of Rights:

Completed in 1789 and ratified in 1791, the original Bill of Rights contained 10 amendments (the first 10 amendments) to the United States Constitution. Essentially these amendments limited the powers of the federal government and protected the rights of all citizens, visitors, and residents of the United States. These amendments were to ensure that the Constitution protected basic principles of human liberty.

Of these first 10 amendments…the First Amendment is specifically what we’re going to look at for purposes of your lesson today. The First Amendment of the Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Now for our purposes…we’re actually only looking at the first part of the First Amendment…the one dealing with religion. In the very first statement of the First Amendment are the words “no law respecting an establishment of religion.” That means that Congress (unfortunately at the moment that’s you, Marilyn) cannot establish laws, issue resolutions, or otherwise do anything in its legislative capacity to single out one religion over any other and/or to represent a religion as our (the United States’) “state religion.” That’s what those words mean…there’s no ambiguity there. Let me read it again for you in case you glanced away from the screen a minute ago. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…

That’s why your “National Year of the Bible” died in committee. Because it's unconstitutional in worst way. That’s why we get nervous when you keep citing your “responsibility as a Christian,” and your urging to “return to God and the Bible” for answers to our nation’s problems. Because you’re not supposed to do that. It’s hard for us to understand why you seem to forget that our country is made up of Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, Agnostics, Hare Krishnas, Sikhs, Taoists, and on and on and on.

There are indeed countries that have a formal state religion, such as Argentina and El Salvador (Roman Catholicism) or Denmark and Norway (Lutheran) or Bhutan (Buddhism) or Afghanistan and Iran (Islam), but the United States is not one of them.

Part of the reason that all the religions of the world can (and should) be able to live in comfort in the United States is because of these freedoms to exercise their religions and their freedom from religion – that is the establishment of a religion of the United States or the individual states.

This is why your statement that our First Amendment “does not offer freedom from religion” is perhaps the scariest thing you have said in your political career. Especially since you seem to continue to legislate and make congressional decisions based on that statement.

Come November of 2008…your failure as a member of Congress to understand the Constitution will finally come back to bite you.

Keep the faith…

Michael