Heidi Heitkamp

Flint, Michigan And Standing Rock Sioux Of North Dakota: Message Is That African Americans And Native Americans’ Drinking Water Supply NOT Important!

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Conservatives and Republicans, and many white citizens, love to say there is no racism in America, and yet we have constant evidence of racism, and not caring about the health, safety, and basic rights of various racial and ethnic minorities.

Flint, Michigan and its water crisis has been ignored by the state of Michigan and its Governor, Rick Snyder, who should be forced out of office, and tried and convicted for causing the poisoning of the water supply. The reason so little has been done is because the city is poor, and much of its population is African American.

And now the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of North Dakota is seeing the danger of its water supply being poisoned, and its ancestral lands being taken away from them, by the power of rich whites and the oil industry, including investments by the President Elect Donald Trump himself! The Dakota Access Pipeline is being forced on the area in North Dakota and nearby states without any regard to the rights of native Americans under treaties, and the law enforcement authorities have been abusive toward demonstrators and protestors, including hosing them down in frigid weather, and ordering them off the occupied land near where the pipeline is being planned.

The Army Corp of Engineers and President Barack Obama have shown sympathy to the Standing Rock Sioux, but the state government of North Dakota and its political leadership, including the despicable Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp, is showing no concern about the rights of the tribe to have their land protected, as well as their water supply.

A confrontation is coming, and interestingly, thousands of veterans are said to be on the way to North Dakota this weekend, and it seems as if real bloodshed and violence may be coming, as these veterans are, heroically, ready to defend the tribe and its rights.

Our nation has continued its racist history toward both African Americans and Native Americans, but also historically toward Latinos, Asian Americans, Jews, and Catholics over the long haul of American history, and now the future President will, by his own words and actions, further promote dishonor, illegality, and lack of ethics and morality toward these groups.

In the second decade of the 21st century, it is time to call for widespread protest against these outrageous actions!

The US Senate Becomes More Ideological Than Ever!

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The US Senate used to be a legislative body with moderate and even liberal Republicans, and moderate and conservative Democrats, allowing for a “crossing of the aisle”, and the creation of coalitions of Republicans and Democrats to promote legislation.

The recent Senate elections further destroyed any such “crossing of the aisle”, and insured more deadlock and gridlock, as moderate Democrats were defeated, and the most moderate Republican Senate nominee was defeated.

I am referring to the defeat of Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and the pending likely defeat of Mark Begich of Alaska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, on the Democratic side, and the defeat of Scott Brown of New Hampshire, who was often called the most moderate Republican.

When one looks at the new 2015 Senate, who is really “Moderate”?

On the Democratic side, we could say Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Bill Nelson of Florida, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Jon Tester of Montana, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and the almost defeated Mark Warner of Virginia, who shocked everyone, including himself, by his almost loss to Ed Gillespie.

On the Republican side, the list of “Moderates” would include Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, John McCain of Arizona, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia.

Some readers might be shocked to see McCain and Flake included on this list, but in comparison to the rest of the GOP, they are, often, somewhat moderate and reasonable, although not reliably so.

This is a sad state of affairs, and not likely to change anytime soon!

The Courage Of Pro NRA Senators Who Voted For The Universal Background Checks Bill

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Attention has been paid to those Pro NRA Senators who refused to support the Universal Background Checks bill, and who now have suffered drops in public opinion polls in their states, including Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, Nevada Senator Dean Heller, and New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte.

Not as much attention has been paid to the Senators of both parties who did not let their basically Pro NRA viewpoints stand in the way of common sense and reality.

These include:

Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania
Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico
Senator Joe Donnelly of Indiana
Senator Tim Johnson of South Dakota
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia
Senator Jon Tester of Montana
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia

And shame on Democratic Senators Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Nick Begich of Alaska, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, and Max Baucus of Montana for voting against the Universal Background Checks, and a salute to Republican Senators John McCain of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine, and Mark Kirk of Illinois, who joined Pat Toomey in support of the legislation!

Twenty Women In The United States Senate In The 113th Congress: All Time High!

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The 113th Congress will have TWENTY women, the highest number in American history!

The 112th Congress had seventeen women, 12 Democrats and 5 Republicans.

The 113th Congress will have 16 Democrats and 4 Republicans, with Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, both Republicans, retiring!

Five new women will join the Senate—Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts,.Tammy Baldwin of WIsconsin, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, and Deb Fischer of Nebraska, with Fischer being the lone Republican. Fifteen women Senators will remain, including three Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. The twelve returning Democratic women include: Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Diane Feinstein of California, Barbara Boxer of California, Parry Murray of Washington, and Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Also, three states have both Senators being women—New Hampshire, California, and Washington!

And to top it off, New Hampshire not only has two women Senators, but also both House members are women, and the new Governor is a woman, the first state to have an all female representation in Congress and the Governorship!

How far America has come as we enter the year 2013!

The US Senate Changes At Accelerated Pace, But With Little Hope Of BiPartisanship!

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The US Senate, often called the greatest deliberative body in the world, is rapidly changing, as we will see at least 15 new members being sworn in on January 3 or shortly thereafter,

This is due to the retirement of eleven Senators; the primary defeat of one; the upcoming resignation of two; and the death of one.

Eleven of these 15 Senators will be Democrats, including Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Angus King of Maine, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and the appointed replacements for John Kerry in Massachusetts who is resigning to become Secretary of State, and for Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, who died in office a week ago.

Four new Senators will be Republicans, including Deb Fischer of Nebraska, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Ted Cruz of Texas, and Tim Scott of South Carolina, by appointment after the resignation of Jim DeMint to become the head of the Heritage Foundation.

At the same time, the longest serving Senators head the committees, and their average age is higher than it has ever been, and we now know, at the least, that the oldest Senator now, Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, who will be 90 when he comes up for reelection in 2014, is not yet ready to say he will retire, even in the face of a potential challenge in the Democratic primary from Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

So the Senate, seen as a barrier to progress by many, is becoming more divided, by age, ideology, and party, making the likelihood of “crossing the aisle” far less likely in the near future! Bipartisanship is NOT thriving!

Women Democratic Senate Nominees Could Boost Female Senate Total In 2013

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Five Democratic women are running for US Senate seats in 2012, and if they can win, it would boost the number of Democratic women in the Senate dramatically!

These candidates include:

Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, against Senator Scott Brown.

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, against former Governor Tommy Thompson.

Congresswoman Shelley Berkley in Nevada, against Senator Dean Heller.

Congesswoman Mazie Hirono in Hawaii, against former Governor Linda Lingle.

Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, against Congressman Rick Berg.

All five would add to the progressive bloc in the Senate, and would be strong supporters of women’s rights, labor rights, consumer rights, civil rights, and gay rights.

And Warren and Berkley victories would add two seats to the Democratic side, at a time when the Senate only has a six seat edge, 53-47, and is losing seven incumbent Democrats who are retiring, and facing five competitive races in which Democrats are in danger of losing their seats.