Oh ja! We do the Liechtensteiner polka

That's the tune the F. Jim Sensenbrenners are dancing to. Sing along, if you wish.

They love Liechtenstein. And other people love picking up the tab for the Sensenbrenners' visits.

Dan Bice has the goods. Ja!

An Inconvenient Truth

Always Something There to Remind Us?


Think Progress announces that "House Conservatives Appoint Chief Climate Skeptic to Lead Global Warming Panel."

That would be, I'm afraid -- our own F. Jim.

Once again the 5th CD looks like we have terrible taste in Congress and a low self-regard.

The posting goes on:

The House of Representatives voted yesterday to create a new congressional committee devoted solely to addressing the global climate crisis.

Unable to block the creation of the committee, House conservative leaders are now doing everything they can to neuter it. Conservative leadership aides reportedly told Republican members that a vote in favor of the bill creating the global warming panel “would put them out of running for a seat” on the panel.

Worse, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has named Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) to be the committee’s top ranking Republican member. A look at Sensenbrenner’s record:

• Sensenbrenner praised as ‘Inhofe of the House’: “If there is an Inhofe on the House side, it has to be Wisconsin’s James Sensenbrenner Jr.,” says the American Conservative Union’s David Keene, referring to Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who calls global warming the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.”
• Sensenbrenner led climate skeptic delegation to Kyoto conference: “As chairman of the Science Committee back in 1998, Sensenbrenner led a delegation of skeptics to the Kyoto conference and fought then-President Clinton’s attempt to go along with the Kyoto protocols.”
• Sensenbrenner asked scientist about placing catalytic converters on cows to combat warming: “Does (it) mean to stop this increase in methane we’ve got to put catalytic converters on the backs of cows?” Sensenbrenner asked a climate scientist at a hearing last month. If cows are partly responsible for methane gases, Sensenbrenner said, that “could hit Wisconsin’s economy right between the horns.”
• Sensenbrenner endorsed by Competitive Enterprise Institute: A spokesman for the oil industry-backed Competitive Enterprise Institute called Sensenbrenner “exceptionally well qualified” and “a good choice.”

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) — who last month claimed that global warming may have been caused by “dinosaur flatulence” — was reportedly a finalist for the ranking member slot. Only 13 percent of congressional Republicans say they believe that human activity is causing global warming, according to a recent poll, compared to 79 percent of Americans.

Wrong again, and proud of it

Sensenbrenner tells the Conservative Political Action conference that Republicans lost the last election because they "forgot to be conservatives."

Actually, the GOP got its just desserts because it went to war in Iraq under false pretenses and then totally mismanaged the war effort. Real conservatives would not have cooked up or supported that kind of international adventure.

Sensenbrenner, you'll be happy to hear, is proud of his standing in the Latino community over immigration issues. He's pretty much public enemy number one and just pleased as punch.

The Journal Sentinel has the details.

Big Jim to Hmong: Tough luck; drop dead

The Hmong who were US allies in the "secret war" against communists in Laos are considered terrorists under the Patriot Act and Real ID Acts, and are being denied green cards and asylum, the AP reports.

Big Jim is his usual compassionate, empathetic self:

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, the Wisconsin Republican who was a main driving force behind both the Patriot Act and the Real ID Act as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, declined an interview request. Through a spokesman, Rajesh Bharwani, he said: "The laws are fine. If the Department of Justice and other agencies are overstepping their bounds, then the courts will stop them."

Just like they've stopped Bush and Cheney, presumably.

Right, but for the wrong reasons

"If you want to stop the war, stop the money," said Sensenbrenner. "The Democrat[ic] resolution has no force or effect. The trump card we have is the power of the purse. They have to have the guts to say we are not going to fund it. ..."

Sensenbrenner, of course, would never support cutting off the funds. He wants to put Democrats on the spot.

But he's right. If you want to stop the war, stop the money.

Story.

Sensenbrenner gets his gander up

Jim Sensenbrenner, still trying to figure out his minority status, continues to throw his weight around. Thursday, he badgered Speaker Nancy Pelosi, using an obscure rule to question her when she testified before a House committee.

The Hill has the story.

The last line of this excerpt is a little ironic. The guy who wants to ask the questions doesn't want to answer any for the media without an appointment. Apparently, what's good for the goose doesn't apply to the gander, according to House Rule XI.

...Pelosi experienced the effect of the new strategy yesterday when Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) stunned her by using a procedural tactic to force her to answer questions from members of the Science Committee and White House spokesman Tony Snow defended her right to travel nonstop across the country aboard a military jet.

After Pelosi finished making an opening statement on global warming before the Science panel, Sensenbrenner employed House Rule XI, which allows lawmakers to question witnesses for five minutes.

The move flustered Science Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) and committee aides. Gordon asked for unanimous consent to waive the rules, but Sensenbrenner did not agree.

It is rare that the House Speaker, who does not vote on or sponsor legislation, would testify before a committee; it is rarer still that lawmakers would force one of their own to submit to questioning. Lawmakers testify in committees all the time, but their colleagues routinely dispense with all but the friendliest questions.

Pelosi delivered an opening statement at a hearing where scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) testified about a report issued last week that said humans “very likely” have caused global warming.

“It’s tough being in the minority, but the American people are looking for cooperation on this very serious issue and the Speaker showed today she’s willing to talk about the issue with anyone anywhere,” said a spokesman for Pelosi.

Sensenbrenner responded in a statement to Pelosi’s allegation that “for 12 years, the [GOP] leadership stifled all discussion and debate of global warming. The long rejection of reality is over, to the relief of members on both sides of the aisle.”

Sensenbrenner, chairman of the Science Committee from 1997 to 2001, said he held hearings on global warming. He then asked Pelosi to explain the economic impact of policies that would slow global warming.

“He’s a rules kind of guy and he felt he had a right to question her,” said Sensenbrenner’s spokesman, Raj Bharwani. Whether Sensenbrenner’s plan was premeditated or extemporaneous is unclear. Sensenbrenner rarely talks to reporters without an appointment...

Big Jim just as offensive, but powerless

He's used to getting his way, but now has to settle for getting some publicity.

Have to wonder, though: Does Sensenbrenner secretly like cockfighting or dog fighting, or what's his deal?

Former chairman shakes things up on animal fighting bill

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Until January, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner ruled the House Judiciary Committee with an iron fist, refusing to bring up an anti-animal fighting bill for a vote last year despite the support of more than 300 House members.

So when a similar bill finally came up for a committee vote Wednesday, the Wisconsin Republican wasn't ready to sit on the sidelines. He tried unsuccessfully to attach an anti-abortion amendment to it. After the amendment was ruled out of order, the committee approved the bill on a voice vote.

"The answer to the age-old question of 'Which came first, the chicken or the egg?' - I would argue that it doesn't matter which came first," he said. "Both deserve our protection. Without this amendment, we will be giving more protection to chickens than we will be giving to minor children, their parents and their unborn baby."

The president of the Humane Society of the United States, Wayne Pacelle, called the amendment "outrageous."

"It was designed to load up the bill in order to kill it," said Pacelle, whose group took out newspaper ads last year lumping Sensenbrenner in with illegal cockfighters and dogfighters.

The legislation, which now moves to the full House for a vote, would make transporting animals across state lines for fighting a felony, punishable by up to three years of jail time. Under current law, it's a misdemeanor. Cockfighting is banned in every state except Louisiana and New Mexico, and dogfighting is banned in every state.

Sensenbrenner's amendment would have made it a crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion to circumvent parental involvement laws.

But one of the perks he lost as chairman was the ability to rule on whether an amendment is "germane," and his successor, Michigan Democrat John Conyers, ruled this one was not.

Sensenbrenner was not alone in his crusade Wednesday.

"I will not sit here and lend my vote to a piece of policy that elevates chickens above the lives of humanity," declared Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa.

Supporters of the animal fighting bill argue that cockfighting is barbaric and inhumane, and is tied to crimes such as money laundering and drug running.

Sensenbrenner spokesman Rajesh Bharwani said that the congressman was not trying to revive his influence on the committee.

"His amendment at today's meeting was about raising the point that Democrats are more interested in protecting the rights and well-being of chickens over minor girls and their babies," Bharwani said.

Jim gets demoted

Outgoing House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner will relinquish the gavel when the Republicans become the minority party in January. He was reportedly seeking a position as the Ranking Member on the committee in the new Congress. Unfortunately for Jim, that position will go to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX).

To add insult to injury, Sensenbrenner didn't get a Ranking Member spot on any other committees. He has been serving in the House of Representatives since 1979.

WisPolitics has the list of new Ranking Members in PDF format.

Crossposted at Brewtown Politico.

Sensenbrenner 'wrong on too much'; Journal Sentinel endorses Kennedy

Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial:

It's time to send the congressman home

Two years ago, we recommended Jim Sensenbrenner for another term representing Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District. Today, we simply cannot. Sensenbrenner has been wrong on too much, from an immigration policy that puts him at odds with much of his own party and the business community to failure to exert meaningful oversight over White House domestic spying policies.

We recommend his opponent, Democrat Bryan Kennedy. He will be a competent, thoughtful congressman who can restore a sense of dignity and balance to the 5th District. It's time for that after years of folly from Sensenbrenner.

Sensenbrenner has too often been an obstructionist to good policy. Given the reins of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, he had a chance to lead for the common good during a congressional session when few representatives had even a notion of what that meant. Too often, he didn't.

Sensenbrenner was wrong on immigration. His enforcement-only plan included making felons of undocumented immigrants and a useless 700-mile fence that will do nothing to solve this national problem. Worse for Republicans, his obstinacy split his own party and cost it a rare opportunity to significantly broaden its base.

Sensenbrenner was wrong on the USA Patriot Act. We need many of its provisions in this era of terrorism, but the version he championed strode upon the liberty of every American.

Sensenbrenner was wrong on Real ID, which will cost states millions of dollars to implement and which fixed something that wasn't broken.

Sensenbrenner was wrong not to dig deeper into the National Security Agency's domestic spying program. Sensenbrenner sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales but didn't bother with the real spade work.

Sensenbrenner was wrong to waste taxpayers' money by taking more than $160,000 in junkets since 1994, not to mention the more than $200,000 in world travel paid for by lobbyists and think tanks over the past six years.

Sensenbrenner was wrong to push bills that would make it harder for police agencies to track illegal guns and to crack down on rogue gun dealers.

Sensenbrenner was wrong to indict Milwaukee as "fast becoming the murder capital of the U.S." and wrong to lash out at Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, calling him a "crybaby" for having the brass to criticize Congress. It's but one example of the congressman's increasingly belligerent and unproductive tone.

Give Sensenbrenner credit for pushing to renew the Voting Rights Act and for bucking the administration on ethics reform. He was right about the risk for fraud in relief money sent to the Gulf Coast for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

But those are meager accomplishments.

Like Sensenbrenner, Kennedy favors tough border security but, unlike Sensenbrenner, also a path to legalization for the millions of illegal immigrants now here. He favors incentives to promote the entry of whole families, which he says would force immigrants up the wage scale, and bigger fines for businesses that employ illegal immigrants.

Kennedy, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor, favors a flexible withdrawal from Iraq but wants the generals to make those decisions. He notes, correctly, that the real fight is against terrorism.

He favors targeted tax cuts for the middle class, arguing that the Bush tax cuts missed that mark.

Some voters may be put off by Kennedy's decision to pay himself, a campaign staffer and a baby sitter from campaign funds. But if middle-class candidates are going to run, accommodations must be made. The Federal Elections Commission allows what Kennedy did. And keep in mind: Sensenbrenner is paid by the taxpayers while he campaigns.

No doubt, the district loses something in experience and seniority if Sensenbrenner goes. But a return to more moderate positions and tone, especially on immigration and guns, is well worth that price.

Big Jim digs deep for NRCC -- $100,000

Rep. F. Jim Sensenbrenner is making an investment to try to remain a part of the majority in the House. He's like to chair a committee again, no doubt.

The tight-fisted Sensenbrenner has given the National Republican Congressional Committee $100,000. Of course, it's from his campaign account, not his wallet. Still, it's a sign he wants to try to buy a spot in leadership if the Rs happen to prevail.

CQ has the story and list of other big donors.

Who's the tall nerdy guy in the suit?
Hint: What's the name of this blog?

High (dis)honors for Sensenbrenner

F. Jim Sensenbrenner has made it big -- #2 on Rolling Stone's list of 10 Worst Congressmen.

He's topped only by Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Spice Boys whistled for unnecessary roughness

Jay Bullock -- on this blog he's known as The Founder -- says on his folkbum blog that Sensenbrenner, who starts out with huge advantages of wealth and incumbency in his reelection campaign against Bryan Kennedy, has one more advantage. It's the Spice Boys, who are piling on at every opportunity.

If a Tree Falls in the Forest

Sometimes family matters have to be attended to and as much as I wanted to attend the 5th Congressional District debate last night, my wife's birthday came first.

Having missed this and being keenly interested in the proceedings, first thing this morning I tore open the Metro section of the Journal to find coverage of the event.

Nada

Well, maybe they saw fit to put it in the front section.

Zilch.

My guess is the shrinking space in the news hole dictated passing on the second debate in two days between Bryan, F. Jim and the Green candidate.

That's too bad, because the second debate in Fox Point is 180 degrees from the first one in Brookfield and makes for a different dynamic. Plus the first one took place in the afternoon and the second one in the evening.

My thought is that the second one would make for much more dynamic coverage with more impassioned reactions from this more liberal audience. This leads to the speculation if the Journal even thinks this race warrants coverage at all and has succumbed to the conventional wisdom -- or their version of it, despite that Bryan is in reach of the seat. Folkbum (http://folkbum.blogspot.com/2006/10/wi-05-f-jims-running-scared-with.html) has a great take on this.

Look at the situation. The horse race rules compel the news media to act like the GOP could catch up to the Democrats in the grab for Congress, even though the odds looks very bad for the Republicans. Check out Paul Krugman's column in todays NY Times.

But the Journal slogs along, discounting all possibilities that we do have a race going on in the 5th. Can't hearten the Democrats, can we.

Too bad. Newspapers should challenge the conventional wisdom, which leads me to wonder if the Journal will endorse one of the most unrepresentative of all of the Representatives in Congress for re-election.

Sensenbrenner and the NRA

Sensenbrenner and his colleagues ought to be ashamed for rushing to protect rogue gun dealers at the expense of public safety.

-- An editorial on Sensenbrenner's shameless sellout to the gun nuts.

Two public forums this week

I didn't say debate, because I can't tell for certain whether these are debates, forums, or just back-to-back speeches, but Big Jim Sensenbrenner and Bryan Kennedy will at least be in the same room twice in the next two days, probably for the only times during the entire campaign.

Both events are open to the public.

On Wednesday, Oct. 11, they'll take part in a forum at the Brookfield Public Safety Building, 2100 N. Calhoun Rd., from 10 to 11;30 a.m. It's sponsored by the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans.

On Thursday, Oct. 12, they will participate in a forum sponsored by the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations at Congregation Shalom, 7630 N. Santa Monica Blvd.,Fox Point, at 7 p.m.

The Two Faces of F. Jim

His votes may say "stay home", but his investments call out "ya'll come on over."

Talk about hedging your bets. Congressman Sensenbrenner may be sending bills to the floor of the House to block illegal immigration, but he pays his bills with investments that use illegals according to an analysis by Roberto Lovato of New American Media.

A rummage of his portfolio reveals:

(T)he congressman has invested in companies that have directly hired or subcontracted with employers who hire undocumented workers" and "stands to benefit from investments in companies contracted by the federal government to provide services he has proposed as part of his immigration reform legislation.

Oh yes, Halliburton is in there too:

Drawing especially strong criticism are the $86,500 in stocks Sensenbrenner holds in the construction and infrastructure colossus Halliburton. The Texas-based giant has been the subject of Senate hearings into its labor practices in the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. News reports and several panelists at Senate hearings have stated that Halliburton used subcontractors hiring hundreds, perhaps thousands of undocumented workers as part of no-bid federal contracts to cleanup Belle Chasse Naval base and other military facilities in the devastated region. Halliburton has also secured a $385 million Department of Homeland Security contract to build gigantic immigrant detention centers near the U.S.-Mexico border and stands to secure further contracts from proposals to reopen closed military bases to house deportees and detainees.

He may claim he has no illegals in his immediate employ at his real home in the Washington DC area, but as Deepthroat put it, "follow the money."

NRA calls the shots for Sensenbrenner

Gregory Stanford's op ed column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner coddles gun dealers who coddle criminals.

The suburban-Milwaukee Republican played a pivotal role in last week's passage by the House of a bill that law enforcement officials across the land warn would keep federal agents from shutting down rogue dealers.

Sensenbrenner, who has bashed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for the city's murder rate, is shirking his own responsibility to reduce that rate. He is thwarting law enforcement efforts to disarm outlaws.

Read the rest.

Sensenbrenner goes to the dogs

Sensenbrenner is single-handedly holding up a bill, in the final days of the Congressional session, to crack down on cockfighting and dogfighting -- a bill sponsored by 324 House members, including Mark Green, F. Jim's Wisconsin colleague and candidate for governor.

His resistance brought a full page newspaper ad in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Thursday, sponsored by the Humane Society. It says F. Jim's on the wrong side of the fence.

What is it about Sensenbrenner and fences anyway?

Protecting the northern border

NY Public Broadcasting:

Deal to Delay Passport Requirement Fails

BUFFALO (2006-09-27) A deal reached in Congress Tuesday to delay the passport requirement along the northern border has fallen apart.

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter says lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreed early Tuesday to delay the passport requirement along the U.S.-Canada border until June 2009.

But just before the vote, Slaughter says Wisconsin Republican James Sensenbrenner objected and convinced House Speaker Dennis Hastert to remove the extension.

Killing the delay at the last minute angered members of the Western New York Congressional delegation.

"This one really took us by surprise," Slaughter said.

Congress approved the passport requirement in 2004 as a way to prevent terrorism and crackdown on illegal immigration. It is scheduled to take effect in January 2008.

The passport requirement is causing widespread anxiety in Western New York, Southern Ontario and other northern border communities that depend on frequent travel to and from Canada for their local economy.

Folks probably won't be too happy about it in Detroit, northern Minnesota, or other northern outposts, either.

UPDATE:The Canadians are unhappy, not that Sensenbrenner would care. CanWest News Service reports:

WASHINGTON - Congressman James Sensenbrenner is a ruddy-faced politician known around Capitol Hill as one of Washington's most mercurial and uncompromising lawmakers.

A 28-year veteran of the House of Representatives, the border security-obsessed congressman from Wisconsin is perhaps best known for authoring immigration legislation which last year triggered massive street protests among Latinos from Los Angeles to New York.

As of Thursday night, Sensenbrenner was also the lone Republican leader blocking legislation to delay new U.S. rules for Canadian travellers that have incensed Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

UPDATE: The bill passed, but Sensenbrenner won a concession. CanWest reports:

WASHINGTON - Legislation to delay new border identification rules for Canadians traveling to the United States has survived a backroom power struggle among congressional Republicans, clearing the way for its final approval in Congress.

The House of Representatives passed the legislation 412 to six in a vote Friday evening, and the Senate was expected to approve the bill later Friday or early today.

The agreement, reached after four days of high-stakes politicking on Capitol Hill, will give Canadians up until the middle of 2009 before they must obtain a passport or tamper-proof equivalent document to cross land borders into the U.S.

But in order to appease the most vocal opponent of the border ID delay House judiciary committee chairman James Sensenbrenner Republican leaders publicly urged the Bush administration to implement the controversial program well before the new deadline.