Enemy of Freedom and Traitor to America Values

David Vitter Complains About Having To Vote Instead Of Going To A Party

But Harry Reid tricked him into not skipping Obama's speech

Excerpt from a article on salon.com By Alex Pareene on September 8, 2011

 

AP

David Vitter

David Vitter will be known solely now and until the end of history for enjoying the company of prostitutes, had a great idea: He was going to petulantly skip Barack Obama's speech to Congress about his jobs proposal, and go to a football party instead. This would show his constituents how much contempt he has for Barack Obama, because that is how Republicans prove seriousness, these days. Well, Harry Reid scheduled some votes for after the speech, just as a sort of mildly amusing "screw you" to the high-profile skippers.

David Vitter is not happy! He is so unhappy he immediately emailed his supporters to whine and carry on about the grave injustice of David Vitter having to go vote on stuff instead of watching a football game, at a party.

"Apparently my attending my own Saints game party at home in Louisiana is the latest casualty of Washington partisanship," Vitter wrote. He's right. That is the latest casualty, and will remain so until someone else loses their illegally foreclosed upon house or falls off the unemployment rolls, both of which will probably happen within the next hour of two.

This HAS gotten out of hand! See the update I just posted on social media below:

Typical Harry Reid. He’s now scheduled votes that should’ve been held this morning for right before and right AFTER prez’s speech. Pens in those who would have skipped speech, like me. So now I’ll miss my own Saints game party at home. Always knew Harry was a Dirty Birds fan! Don’t worry -- only strengthens my Who Dat resolve. On to the Super Bowl!

Yeah Harry Reid is such an Atlanta Falcons fan, that is very obviously why he did this, to David Vitter.

Why does any politician ever think this line is a winner, exactly? "They're forcing me to vote when I'd rather be not voting!" Voting is a U.S. senator's job. Everyone in the world would rather go to a party and watch a Saints game than go to work, but because most people are not spoiled children, they do not complain to thousands of strangers about the unfairness of the "having a job" arrangement. Especially when millions of people have no jobs, at all.

And voting is not even a hard job! It seems pretty boring, but you just show up and say yes or no. That's it!

• Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon. Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More: Alex Pareene

DOES SENATOR VITTER SUPPORT RAPE

 

I think that all homo sapiens can understand how the mere thought of an organization that receives government money through contract mechanisms being tangentially involved in setting up a fake tax shelter for a fake pimp and his fake prostitution ring of fake prostitutes can justifiably lead to lawmakers going absolutely cross-eyed with white-hot, impotent rage. But what happens when a similarly taxpayer-endowed contractor attempts to cover up employee-on-employee gang rape by locking up the victim in a shipping container without food and water and threatening her with reprisals if she report the incident? Somehow, it doesn't engender the same level of anger!

Credit new Senator Al Franken however, for introducing an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would punish contractors if they "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court." You'd think that this would be a no-brainer, actually, but that didn't stop Jeff Sessions from labeling Franken's effort a "political attack directed at Halliburton." Franken, of course, pointed out that his amendment would apply broadly, to all contractors, because otherwise, 'twould be a bill of attainder, right? Right?

Franken's amendment ended up passing, 68-30. Here's a list of the Senators who showed broad support for Roman Polanski by voting against it:

Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Wicker (R-MS)

ADDENDUM: It's been pointed out to me that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce lobbied against the Franken amendment as well:

Republicans point out that the amendment was opposed by a host of business interests, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and applies to a wide range of companies, including IBM and Boeing.

I guess we must cover up crimes like rape in order to save capitalism.

RELATED:
Franken Wins Bipartisan Support For Legislation Reining In KBR's Treatment Of Rape [ThinkProgress]

PREVIOUSLY, on the HUFFINGTON POST:
Franken Gets His First Amendment Passed By Roll Call Vote

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/07/meet-the-senators-who-vot_n_312976.html

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SHOULD DAVID VITTER RESIGN?

We will leave it up to the reader to determine whether David Vitter has made serious errors in in judgment.  Tom has supported a Conservative Christian position especially when it comes to Church and State issues, but it is apparent from the data collected, that the first amendment may be in danger from his past and future actions.

When we contacted David Vitter's office, they stated that his position is that Christianity is the only "Real" religion."  What is a real religion, Mr. Vitter?  What you have been practicing? If what you have been practicing is "Real Christianity", it obviously should be made illegal.   According to evidence, his actions have been corrupt, illegal and unethical.   Read the following and remember: "By their Works may they be known."  This is a summary of information collected from several sources, including Salon Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The New Republic, and The Hill, about David Vitter.

(Remember it is best to investigate on your own when looking at allegations about anyone.     Don't believe us, think for yourself and investigate for yourself!  And remember, the First Amendment Coalition does not represent any political party nor do we recommend any political candidate, nor are we involving ourselves in the political process.  This information is only for students of David Vitter )

LOUISIANA DEMS FILE ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST VITTER

Excerpts from an article by Michael O'Brien

The head of the Louisiana Democratic Party filed an ethics complaint against Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on Friday, accusing Vitter of using his taxpayer-funded town hall meetings as campaign events.

Party chairman Chris Wittington filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee, saying in the sworn statement that shots Vitter had taken at prospective reelection opponent, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.), as well as the controlled environment of the meetings, had constituted a breach of ethics.

"These comments, and in particular Senator Vitter's repeated attacks on his likely campaign opponent, indicate these events were political and not official in nature," Whittington wrote.

Lawmakers are forbidden from using official funds, bankrolled by taxpayers, for campaign purposes.

"Instead of using town hall meetings to foster a free and open discussion on important issues, Senator Vitter has essentially staged taxpayer-funded campaign events to repeatedly launch misleading attacks on his potential opponent and build his campaign's war chest," said Louisiana Democratic Party Spokesman Kevin Franck. "Once again David Vitter has given into the temptation to cross an ethical and legal boundary."

The complaint could establish an interesting precedent for the heated August town hall meetings, giving pause to any lawmaker who made statements about potential political foes in recent meetings.

David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American Republican politician, currently serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Louisiana. He was formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives, first elected in 1999, to represent the suburban First Congressional District of Louisiana. In July 2007, Vitter was identified as a client of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey's escort service in Washington, D.C.

Early life, career, and family

Vitter was born in New Orleans to Audrey Malvina St. Raymond and Albert Leopold Vitter. He received a B.A. from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1983; a B.A. from Oxford University in 1985, as a Rhodes Scholar; and a Juris Doctor from the law school of Tulane University in New Orleans in 1988. He was a lawyer and a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999, when he entered the U.S. House.

Vitter and his wife Wendy, a former prosecutor, have three daughters, Sophie, Lise, and Airey, and a son, Jack.

House of Representatives

Elections

Vitter won a special election to Louisiana's 1st Congressional District in 1999, succeeding Republican Congressman Bob Livingston, who resigned after an adultery scandal. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999, former Congressman and Governor David Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and self-styled "white nationalist" David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16 percent; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, had 6 percent. In the special election runoff on May 29, Vitter defeated Treen, 61,661 votes (51 percent) to 59,849 (49 percent).

In 2000 and 2002, Vitter won re-election with over 80 percent of the vote in what has become a safe Republican district.

Vitter authored an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act which required all secondary schools receiving federal funding to permit US military recruitment on school grounds. Some high schools had policies prohibiting organizations that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, such as the US military, from recruiting on their campus. Since the passage of the Vitter Amendment, many high schools run by Quakers and other peace tradition churches have refused to accept federal funding in order to avoid this requirement.

2002 gubernatorial race

In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly ran a story about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race, saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems. "Our [marriage] counseling sessions have ... led us to the rather obvious conclusion that it's not time to run for governor," Vitter said.

United States Senate

2004 election

In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter's grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey's longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.

During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it as "just crass Louisiana politics."

On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the Louisiana senatorial jungle primary with 51.0 percent of the vote. The field of opponents including two major Democrats, then Seventh Congressional District Congressman Christopher John, who got 29.4 percent of the vote, and state Treasurer John N. Kennedy (no relation to the Massachusetts Kennedys), who got 15.1 percent.

Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, John S. Harris, who took office in 1868, was chosen by the state legislature, in accordance with the process used before the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.

Political actions and positions

Hurricane Katrina

On August 30, 2005, immediately after Hurricane Katrina, while New Orleans' flood levels were still rising in all areas, Vitter made an inaccurate statement that received notable media attention:

In the metropolitan area in general, in the huge majority of areas, it's not rising at all. It's the same or it may be lowering slightly. In some parts of New Orleans, because of the 17th Street breach, it may be rising and that seemed to be the case in parts of downtown. I don't want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That's just not happening," said Vitter on August 30.

In early September, Vitter said that he would give "the entire big government organized relief effort a failing grade, across the board." He said that state and local governments shared in the blame as well. Vitter's actions during Hurricane Katrina are described in historian Douglas Brinkley's May 2006 book, The Great Deluge.

In response to gun confiscations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Vitter was the Senate sponsor of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act, to prohibit federal funding for the confiscation of legally held firearms during a disaster.

Abstinence education

Vitter advocated abstinence-only sex education, emphasizing abstinence while excluding issues involving birth control and safe sex. He said, "Abstinence education is a public health strategy focused on risk avoidance that aims to help young people avoid exposure to harm...by teaching teenagers that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."

Same-sex marriage

Vitter believes strongly that marriage is a sacred vow between a man and a woman. In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban same sex marriages. In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts’s values." In June 2006, he said "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one ... I think this debate is very healthy, and it's winning a lot of hearts and minds. I think we're going to show real progress." In 2006, he told The Times-Picayune, “I’m a conservative who opposes radically redefining marriage, the most important social institution in human history.”

In October 2005, at a Lafayette Parish Republican Executive Committee luncheon, Vitter compared gay marriage to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which came through the same geographical areas. Vitter said "It's the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita. I always knew I was against same-sex unions."

2008 Endorsement

In March 2007, Vitter announced his support for Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid. Vitter has served as the southern regional chair of Giuliani's campaign. On July 11, 2007, the New York Times reported that the chairmanship is in doubt due to the so-called D.C. Madam scandal. A spokesman for Giuliani said Vitter's job is secure. However, a New Orleans City Business reporter wrote that Vitter has been "quietly marginalized" in the campaign.

In announcing the endorsement, Vitter said "I believe the Republican Party needs to always be the party of free market economics and reform. Rudy implemented those principles as Mayor of New York by cutting taxes twenty-three times, making government more efficient and moving welfare recipients into jobs. It’s exactly the kind of conservative reform the federal government needs".

"Obviously, I disagree with Rudy on some significant social issues, and these are very important to me and to many of the people I represent," Vitter said. However, after numerous meetings with Giuliani, Vitter said that "it's very clear to me that he's not running for president to advance any liberal social agenda."

D.C. Madam Controversy

In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", which is accused by the U.S. government of being a prostitution service. Hustler magazine identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a printed statement:

"This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there - with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way."

The statement containing Vitter's apology said his telephone number was included on phone records dating from his days as a member of the House of Representatives.  Phone records show that Vitter's number was called by Palfrey's service five times, the first on October 12, 1999, and the last on February 27, 2001. Two calls were placed while House roll call votes were in progress.

On July 10, Jeanette Maier, the "Canal Street Madam", alleged that Vitter was a customer on more than one occasion in the 1990s, when Maier was identified by federal prosecutors as operating a $300 per hour brothel.The Times-Picayune reported that "Maier offered no evidence or documents to support her claim."Maier said that Vitter "was not a freak. He was not into anything unusual or kinky or weird," and that he favored one prostitute in particular, Wendy Cortez, the name of the prostitute that Vitter had been accused, during his 2004 campaign, of having had a lengthy affair with. Vitter denied that allegation during the campaign. On July 12, Cortez told The Times-Picayune that Vitter was "a regular customer" during his time in the state legislature, but that they "did not have a romantic relationship."

Vitter is unlikely to face criminal charges due to statutes of limitations. Vitter apologized to GOP senate colleagues but avoided the press who repeatedly attempted to talk to him.

In May 1999, Vitter replaced Congressman Bob Livingston after Livingston resigned due to an adultery scandal. Vitter said about Livingston's decision to resign, "It's obviously a tremendous loss for the state .... I think Livingston's stepping down makes a very powerful argument that Clinton should resign as well and move beyond this mess," referring to the Monica Lewinsky scandal of President Bill Clinton. In 2000, his wife, Wendy Vitter, commenting on the same scandal, said, "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he [Vitter] does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me," referring to the incident of Lorena Bobbitt severing the penis of her husband and to Clinton's wife, Hillary Clinton.

Reaction

While the Lousiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The liberal magazine, The Nation, predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood" pointing out if Vitter did step down, Democratic Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election took place, thus increasing Democratic control over the Senate.

Marianne Means, a syndicated columnist for Hearst Newspapers, reported that Republican senators gave Vitter a "loud standing ovation" which she characterized as hypocritical by contrasting this with the Republican attitude toward President Clinton's marital infidelity.

UH OH!

Footnotes