Repeal Amendment;

The NYT writes: The same people driving the lawsuits that seek to dismantle the Obama administration’s health care overhaul have set their sights on an even bigger target: a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of the states to overturn any act of Congress. Under the proposed “repeal amendment,” any federal law or regulation could be repealed if the legislatures of two-thirds of the states voted to do so. The idea has been propelled by the wave of Republican victories in the midterm elections. First promoted by Virginia lawmakers and Tea Party groups
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/us/politics/20states.html?_r=1 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Daily Caller reveals: Nearly forty percent of the Marines in the official Department of Defense survey said that they may leave the service early if “don’t ask, don’t tell” is repealed. Four out of ten! That is a staggering number that could degrade one of the most lethal fighting forces in the world.

The same Department of Defense report said forty to sixty percent of Marines and other combat forces believe that the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” will have a negative impact on the military. Marine Corps Commandant, General James Amos, said, “I don’t want to lose any Marines to the distraction [of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’].” We are in a time of war and we have combat troops in two theaters of operation. It is not a time to change a policy that has worked for years.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/12/20/the-inevitability-of-the-draft/#ixzz18gkstEFr

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CNSNews.com) - At an all-day White House conference on "environmental justice," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that her department is creating a new task force to battle the effects of climate change on domestic security operations.

Speaking at the first White House Forum on Environmental Justice on Thursday, Napolitano discussed the initial findings of the department’s recently created "Climate Change and Adaptation Task Force." http://cnsnews.com/news/article/napolitano-says-dhs-begin-battling-clima

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Washington Times writes: Sometimes in Congress, the physical size of the bill matters. Last week's aborted $1.1 trillion "omnibus" spending bill ran to 1,926 pages and ended up costing taxpayers more than $78,000 just for the Government Printing Office to print out 650 copies. The size alone helped Republicans sink the measure so quickly that Democrats officially never called up the bill on the Senate floor for action, (Snip) Now, the two sides are headed toward a vote Tuesday on a 36-page continuing resolution, or "CR" in Congress-speak, that will keep the government running through early March with some specific tweaks to boost http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/20/hot-off-the-press-obsolete-bill-costs-78000-to-pri/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USA Today writes: For a guy who insists that federal bureaucrats make too much money, incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor doesn't mind handing out handsome government raises of his own.

Cantor, the Virginia Republican who has led the GOP charge this year to freeze federal salaries, has boosted his congressional office's payroll 81% since coming to Congress in 2001 — about 8% per year through 2009. When he became minority whip last year, the office's personnel expenses went up by at least 16%.

Cantor and other GOP leaders are now pledging to cut their budgets 5% when they take over the House in January — a symbolic gesture aimed at showing a commitment to slowing Washington spending. But the lawmakers suddenly calling for wage cuts often haven't practiced what they're preaching. http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2010-12-20-congress-staff-pay_N.htm

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------