Sorry Harry, the American people demand and deserve a vote, we need our senators vote on record.

Not that I have ever agreed with anything Reid says, but this is bull.

The worst thing voted on in the history of our nation is was the recent "Shared success" socialist bill Reid brought to a vote.

Why are the Alien and Sedition Acts always lumped together? Separate laws with separate purposes subject to entirely different analyses:

What we refer to as the "Alien Acts" were 3 separate laws:

1. The Naturalization Act of 1798 (1 Stat. 566) extended from 5 to 14 years the amount of time it took to become
a citizen. It may have been done for political reasons - i.e., passed by a "conservative" Congress to reduce the rate at which "liberal" Irish and French immigrants were getting the right to vote - but it hardly seems to be some sort of an abomination.

2. The Alien Act (1 Stat. 570) authorized (for two years) the deportation of aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States." There were administrative protections against unwarranted deportation and it was subject to abuse, but any harm would have been limited to the deportation of persons who weren't citizens of the United States in the first place.

3. The Alien Enemies Act (1 Stat. 577) authorized the deportation of aliens whose native countries are at war with the United States. Not only does this law not seem to be high on the list of really awful laws, but it's still in effect. 50 USC Section 21-24.

Now the Sedition Act (1 Stat. 596) is the one that genuinely was bad - but I'd argue that only part of the Sedition Act was really bad:

Section 2 of the Sedition Act authorized (for just over 2-1/2 years) the punishment of those who published or spoke "any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the United States, their people or government."

It is, by the way, somewhat of a comfort to know that Congress, in 1798, was just as bad at writing laws as it is now.

That aside, Section 2 properly is excoriated by history.

But take a look at Section 1. Section 1 made it illegal to conspire, "with intent to oppose any measure or measures of the government of the United States, which are or shall be directed by proper authority, or to impede the operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate or prevent any person holding a place or office in or under the government of the United States, from undertaking, performing or executing his trust or duty" or to "counsel, advise or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have the proposed effect or not."

It's rather broad, but some pieces of this aren't particularly awful - e.g., impeding the operation of law or intimidating a federal officer, etc.

Jefferson had sound political, constitutional and moral reasons for opposing part of the Sedition Act and some sound political and policy reasons to oppose some but not all of the Alien Acts, but what strikes me is how successful he was at getting all of them lumped together, for all time, as depredations of the Adams Administration.

And everyone kinda follows along without actually reading the things.

Was Jefferson solely responsible for lumping them together? Not long after they were all passed, you'd hear and read them referred to as the "alien and sedition acts" in speeches and texts by most everyone.

I remember LBJ once declared that the sister of his opponent was a known thespian.

Senator Harry Reid is Opposite Man.

The Worst bills in the last 10 years have all had his fingerprints on them.
1. The Obamacare ARRA bill for one.
2. The failed Stimulus boondoggle.
3. The nonexistent budgets of '10 and '11.
4. Amnesty for illegal aliens.
5. Dodd-Frank bank regs.
6. Cap & trade.

Trust a terrible terrible Senate leader, who has passed the worst legislation in our lifetimes, to be against the best piece of legislation to be considered in Congress in a decade.

A clue is asking too much, but someone at least give this sour puss oaf a thesaurus.

Paul Ryan's budget - one of the worst things ever in American history.
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W - worst president ever.
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W's job record - worst record of any modern President.
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W's environmental policy - worst in history.
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Iraq war - worst U.S. foreign policy mistake ever.
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Janice Rodgers Brown - worst of the worst.
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Running a funeral parlor? More like one of their clients.

McConnell et. al, better do whatever it takes to allow a vote on passage of 'Cut, Cap and Balance'. Even if it doesn't pass, you would at least force the senate Dems to have to make a public vote on passage.

The GOP senate leadership better not get out-smarted by that despicable excuse for a 'public servant'.

PS..We could have had Sue Lowden...sure, she might not have been the darling of the tea-party, but she would have beat Reid and she would have gotten on-board with the conservative surge.