Jim Himes Bravely Asks Darien Residents to Express Their Overwhelming Opposition to Bomb Syria

Jim Himes today asks his constituents, at the Darien Library, for their thoughts on President Obama's request to bomb Syria. How brave of the Congressman. Polls show overwhelming opposition to getting involved in Syria. It is doubtful the congressman's constituents are much different.

Where was the Congressman's town hall when the vote for the Affordable Care Act was pending? Where was the Congressman's town hall when the Amash Amendment, which would have emasculated the Patriot Act, was pending? In a completely inexplicable turnabout, Himes, who voted AGAINST the Patriot Act voted AGAINST an Amendment that would have crippled the Patriot Act. Where was the Congressman's town hall when the Obama administration forced church's to violate their conscience?

On the tough votes the Congressman hides. On the easy votes he asks our opinion. Congressman Himes has been a disappointment with his leading from behind strategy and lock-step voting with Nancy Pelosi. Today's meeting at the Darien Library is further evidence of this.

Jim Himes Joins Bipartisan Effort to Spy on US Citizens

Jim Himes loves to bemoan the lack of bipartisanship in Washington. Good news everyone, Mr. Himes joined in the bipartisan effort to allow the NSA to spy on US citizens by voting against the Amash Amendment.

According to the NY Times

In one of the most unusual votes in years, the House on Wednesday barely defeated an amendment to curtail the National Security Agency’s collection of every phone record, limiting it to records of people targeted in investigations.

Imagine that, only allowing the NSA, which until the Patriot Act was restricted from spying on US citizens, to only spy on people targeted in investigations?

Himes joined Nancy Pelosi (D),  Steny Hoyer (D), John Boehner (R), Eric Cantor (R) in voting against the clearly dangerous and illegal subversion of our right to privacy and voting for general warrants.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll412.xml

Mr. Himes is against the Patriot Act, but for allowing the NSA to spy on you.

Senator Blumenthal: Tough on the Issues

Look at Senator Blumenthal's Twitter page, for his views on the DoJ's subversion of the Free Press, the IRS attack on free speech and the NSA's spying on domestic citizens.

He is silent on those issues on his Twitter account.

Check his Facebook page for his views on these issues.

He is silent on these issues on his Facebook page.

Check his website for his views.  Check the Issues tab, and the Newsroom tab. He is again silent on these issues.

But the good news is this:

Blumenthal Issues Letter Calling on Nickelodeon to Prohibit Advertisements that Market Unhealthy Food to Children

That's quite a relief. For a second I thought he wasn't paying attention to some of the important issues of the day.

According to the NY Times Senator Blumenthal decided not to vote on the Patriot Act extension.  He voted for the extension of FISA 

Dick Blumenthal, protecting Nickelodeon watchers from unhealthy food.

Himes Against NSA snooping except when he's for it

Jim Himes is Shocked! Shocked there is gambling in Casablanca!

He decries the overreach of the NSA domestic spying program but doesn't mention he voted FOR the extension of the FISA Amendments Act

“a law so broad and vague that, despite its passage four years ago, we still have little idea how the government is using it.” 

Good for Mr. Himes for voting against the Patriot Act. It's too bad his commitment to liberty didn't extend to voting against FISA.

Note to Choose to Reuse:

Note to Choose to Reuse. See below:

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2196481

Grocery Bag Bans and Foodborne Illness

Jonathan Klick 

University of Pennsylvania Law School; Erasmus School of Law; PERC - Property and Environment Research Center

Joshua D. Wright 

George Mason University School of Law

November 2, 2012

Abstract:      

Recently, many jurisdictions have implemented bans or imposed taxes upon plastic grocery bags on environmental grounds. San Francisco County was the first major US jurisdiction to enact such a regulation, implementing a ban in 2007. There is evidence, however, that reusable grocery bags, a common substitute for plastic bags, contain potentially harmful bacteria. We examine emergency room admissions related to these bacteria in the wake of the San Francisco ban. We find that ER visits spiked when the ban went into effect. Relative to other counties, ER admissions increase by at least one fourth, and deaths exhibit a similar increase.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 23

Keywords: plastic, environment, pollution, e-coli

JEL Classification: I18, K32

working papers series