Paul Weyrich was a leader and a pioneer.  In co-founding the Heritage Foundation, Paul not only built one of America’s great grassroots organizations, but helped to change the course of the Republican Party and the country itself.  His fingerprints can be clearly seen on so many of the great conservative victories over the years.

Paul’s political conscience was like a guiding rudder through even the foggiest policy debate.  And in the rough-and-tumble world of politics he never backed down.  He was a fighter – but he always waged his battles with warmth, grace and good humor.

We will miss Paul dearly.  And our prayers are with the Weyrich family at this most difficult time.

But we can take heart in knowing that, even years from now, as memories fade, his legacy will grow ever brighter in the light of the freedoms he fought for, the principles he stood for, and the noble ideas he so eloquently and passionately championed. 

With Democrats about to take over the White House and control the Senate and House in greater numbers during the next session of Congress, the threat of the fairness doctrine becoming a reality is very, very real.

Here's what Senator Schumer has to say about it:



According to the Politico newspaper:

"Schumer’s comments echo other Democrats’ views on reviving the Fairness Doctrine, which would require radio stations to balance conservative hosts with liberal ones.

"In 2007, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a close ally of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) told The Hill, 'It’s time to reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine. I have this old-fashioned attitude that when Americans hear both sides of the story, they’re in a better position to make a decision.'

"Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last year said, 'I believe very strongly that the airwaves are public and people use these airwaves for profit. But there is a responsibility to see that both sides and not just one side of the big public questions of debate of the day are aired and are aired with some modicum of fairness.'"

Seeing as how the Democrats can not compete on the radio airwaves with conservative viewpoints, they are now pulling out all the stops. Remember Air America? It failed miserably. So essentially, liberal leaders in Congress are saying to America -- So you don't like what I have to say? Well, I'm going to make you listen to me anyway!

For those of you who don't know, Nancy Pelosi's book, Know Your Power, A Message to America's Daughters, reportedly sold 2,737 copies during its first week of sales. Now I'm not here to knock her for writing a book; in fact, I give her credit for undertaking such a task. The problem I have is with her promoting it when she should be not only working with Congress, but LEADING it to pass a substantive piece of energy legislation.

Explaining the book’s poor performance, a source close to her was quoted as saying:

"The speaker was pre-occupied with house business last week. She has now turned her focus to promoting this extraordinary book...doing local signings and speeches. I think we'll see an uptick."

WOW!

So, are we to take from that that before this summer recess she'd led Congress to accomplish so much, she now deserves time to promote her book to enhance sales??? Not only is the premise wrong – Congress has accomplished nothing – but the ensuing statement is, too.

Partisanship aside, I think we can all agree that Pelosi should get back to work in Washington to deal with our energy crisis.  Book sales are the last thing she should be concerned about. 

At least, we now see crystal clear the priorities of the Speaker of the House. No wonder she’s leading what is known as the "Do-Nothing Congress."

A rule is making its way through Congress that will have a huge impact on our freedom of speech. This rule would prohibit Americans from getting information from their Members of Congress – about what they are doing in Washington, what they are saying, and what they are proposing – on websites that are not “approved” by the Committee on House Administration, the panel that creates rules governing the internal operations of the U.S. House.

This rule affects all of us regardless of political affiliation.

What this essentially means is that sites like YouTube that Members use to communicate with constituents would have to make their way through a complicated, arcane, and restrictive set of House regulations before Members could post videos on them. Under the proposal, the House Administration Committee would develop a list of “approved” websites, and Members of Congress could post content to only those websites.

This proposed rule could mean the end of blogs like this one that have become a real forum for conversation.

The rule has been proposed by the Democrat Chairman of the Commission on Mailing Standards, Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA), and is being considered for adoption by the Committee on House Administration, chaired by Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA).

Read Rep. Capuano's letter to Chairman Brady.

If this rule is adopted, the free flow of information from Members to constituents and vice versa would be significantly stunted. Essentially, a panel of federal employees that are not neutral or independent would say what messages and formats are fit and unfit for circulation.

This rule accomplishes nothing except increased censorship of free speech.