The Big Question for Friday, June 26:

“How badly does the Sanford sex scandal hurt the GOP?”

Read the last Big Question here.

See responses below from Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.), Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.), Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), and John Zogby.

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) said:

“You’re asking a Democrat this? I think it sets my colleagues back a little bit because it cuts down on their list for 2012. And now they’re going to have to develop some other folks for 2012. My personal opinion is President Obama is doing so well and leading the country so well, it doesn’t matter who they develop. I think Obama is doing a great job. It’s more of a setback for Sanford than the GOP.”

Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) said:

“I think probably temporarily it will, but I think in the long run people know that people are human. And no matter if you are Democrat or Republican, people are capable of sining. But I think um all of us hated to see it as far as what impact it would make on his family. I think in the short term it may have an effect, but I don’t think people will hold an entire Republican party for what one or two people do.  I think if more of the Republicans change their philosophies on family values in general, than I think that would be more detrimental than if you just have somebody who’s a member of the party that maybe fails their marriage.”

Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) said:

“I don’t think its particular to the GOP, so you know.  Who knows from my state who Stanford is and cares? It’s a transitory story.  It’s one more politician involved in a scandal.  They don’t discriminate between Democrats, Independents, Republicans, whatever. I don’t think.”

Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said:

“It’s amazing what news stories [laughs]. Last week they were talking about Ensign. This week they’re talking about Sanford, and today they’re talking about Michael Jackson.  Um if he was actually in line to move up the latter, and you know closer to that time, it would hurt us. But he’s a lame duck governor.  He can’t run again.  It’s a couple weeks story. We’ll probably have a new scandal.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said:

“I don’t think it makes very much difference in the next election cycle. These things never do. Scandals usually punish the individual. They don’t make too much difference of party because frankly, both parties have them on a pretty regular basis.”

David Boaz, Executive Vice President, The Cato Institute, said:

The Sanford affair by itself doesn’t hurt the GOP much. After the Foley, Craig, Vitter, and Ensign affairs, this one is just one more nail. Read the full response here.

John Zogby, President and CEO of Zogby International and author, said:

“Republicans already have a huge problem with ‘do as we say, not as we do’. Deficits, pork, individual rights all have near-mortally wounded Republicans. Voters can forgive peccadilloes but not abandoning an executive position, lying, fooling his staff. He’s done. And he was the rising star, and the Republicans also are hurt by not having a good bench. Or maybe they can bring George Steinbrenner in – New York will take a tough-talking Mark Sanford to clear up our state legislative disaster, and we’ll send South Carolina Elliot Spitzer (and, of course, a third-round draft pick).”

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives will look to give President Obama’s Administration control of yet another sector of the U.S. economy by passing the Waxman-Markey global warming bill. In case you’ve forgotten, the Obama Administration is already running the banking industry, the home mortgage industry, and the auto industry. Now, the Obama Administration wants to control the one industry that touches all facets of our economy—energy.

Let’s be very clear, the Waxman-Markey bill is a national energy tax that will affect you every time you flip on a light switch, drive a car, buy food at the grocery store, charge your cell phone or use a computer. There is not an industry or person in this country whose pocketbook will not be negatively affected by this bill through a sneaky and disingenuous hidden tax scheme called cap and trade. If that’s not top down, government control over the private sector, I don’t know what is. Read the rest of this entry »

The nation recently took a long-overdue step forward in the fight for equal rights when President Obama signed a presidential memorandum that puts gay and lesbian federal employees on more equitable footing with their heterosexual co-workers. Partners of gay and lesbian federal employees will now have access to medical centers abroad and can be added to long-term care insurance, while gay and lesbian federal employees will be able to take leave to care for their partners, without fear of job loss.

But current law does not allow the President to confer all of the benefits to gay and lesbian federal employees and their partners that other federal employees and their spouses receive. Read the rest of this entry »

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently remarked that one of the best ways to reduce the number of power plants required to be built in the US is to design more energy efficient buildings. One way that architects and engineers are able to design or renovate more sustainable buildings is by using specialized building design and analysis software. Chu suggests embracing open language software that will allow global cooperation on technology and that will avoid wrangling over intellectual property.

The GSA is now deciding on just this type of open language software. While some of the details can get pretty technical, the thing to remember is that picking the right one will have a real impact on meeting current EPAct and EISA requirements, sustainable building analyses, and LEED certification. Ultimately, it will affect how well we can protect the environment with more energy efficient buildings.

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President Ronald Reagan once said “No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear.  Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”  Sadly this is all too often true.

This is why I was pleased to join my fellow RSC members in an effort to do something unexpected - proving Ronald Reagan wrong.  The RSC recently launched the Sunset Caucus, through which each member of the caucus will introduce legislation that will terminate a duplicative or irrelevant federal program that doesn’t serve the best interests of taxpayers. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held an oversight hearing on VA Quality Management. The improper cleaning of endoscopic equipment at VA facilities may have exposed thousands of our nation’s veterans to life-threatening illnesses. Needless to say, this is very troubling. That’s why I requested yesterday’s hearing and why I think it is imperative that we find out exactly what happened and ensure that these mistakes are not repeated.

Last week, VA’s Inspector General released their report which highlighted that more than half of VA facilities visited by investigators are not in compliance with the Standard Operating Procedures and competency guidelines for the reprocessing of endoscopy equipment. After all that has happened to shed light on the proper way to do this, they are still not doing it right.

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On Tuesday, I introduced legislation that would direct stimulus funds rejected by state governors and local municipalities to paying down the growing national debt.

This week alone, the Louisiana Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations rejected legislation that would call for the state to accept $98 million in stimulus funds that the governor has declined.

Many local and state governments, including in my home state of Louisiana, recognize the future burdens attached to many of these bloated stimulus projects. Congress should use the returned money based on fiscal decisions by those who better understand their own needs –- the local and state government officials –- to pay down our ever-growing national debt.

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As the new junior senator from New York, I’ve already had a lot of exciting moments. But I’m already anticipating the moment next month when the name of another New Yorker, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, comes up for confirmation to the Supreme Court.

I was extremely proud when President Obama nominated Judge Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Not only is she a true New Yorker, born and bred, but her 17 years of experience on the bench — having served as a District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — make her among the most qualified jurists ever to be nominated to the Supreme Court.

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President Barack Obama signed the bipartisan “Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act of 2004 Extension Act” (ACPERA) or H.R. 2675 on June 19.

The Act, which I sponsored in the House, extends the 2004 reduction in civil liability provisions through June 22, 2010. Read the rest of this entry »

On Monday, Democrat Representatives Henry Waxman and Ed Markey released an updated 1,200 page National Energy Tax bill. Unfortunately, the bill continues to contain a variety of measures that will devastate our economy and worsen the recession.

In addition to spiking Americans’ energy bills, 2.5 million Americans can expect to lose their job because of this bill, according to the National Black Chamber of Commerce. But instead of providing substantial support for jobless Americans, Democrats have actually crafted a bill that delivers more support for wildlife and trees in foreign countries. In fact, this bill provides four times as much to wildlife/natural resources/domestic adaptation, four times as much to international adaptation (i.e. – foreign aid) and clean technology transfer, and five times as much to tropical forests than they provide for Americans who lose their job because of this bill.

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