By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Forbes magazine has deemed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg the 13th-richest man in the world, with a net worth of $27 billion.
The Democratic nominee to take over former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr.'s House seat vowed in her Tuesday evening victory speech to tackle gun-related violence and take a leadership role in the national debate over gun control.
How is it that New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is taking part in our election to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. by touting one of the candidates ("Bloomberg to dump $2M into Chicago race to defeat gun advocate Halvorson," Web, Sunday)? This is just more New York influence, like the ineffective police chief Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has hired, who is being hamstrung by the gangs of Chicago, or New Yorker Gabe Klein showing Mr. Emanuel how to cause gridlock by installing bike lanes on our busiest thoroughfares.
Ripples from the deadly shootings in Connecticut are already affecting political campaigns, including a special congressional election in Illinois where a gun rights supporter is calling for tighter gun controls as part of her agenda.
Senate plans to consider a U.N. treaty espousing equal rights for the disabled is drawing opposition from some Republicans wary of the treaty and asserting that the lawmakers should not be taking up international treaties during a lame-duck session.
The jockeying to replace Jesse Jackson Jr. began before the ink was dry on the former congressman's resignation letter.
Faced with a choice between a 10-term congressman and a freshman, Illinois voters opted for the newcomer in a heated Republican primary battle, while in a separate race one of the state's veteran Democrats easily won the biggest re-election fight of his 17-year congressional career.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. faces serious competition for the first time since his House career began, damaged by the last three years of allegations of corruption and embarrassing personal disclosures and made even more vulnerable by Illinois' new congressional district map.
The House GOP's agenda has tilted so far right that it's creating opportunities for Democrats to try to reclaim seats they lost just a few months ago, said Ann Kirkpatrick, the first former member of Congress to announce that she would seek a rematch in 2012.
She said last week that it was clear outside money played a role in her defeat, the Associated Press reports.
"I'm not going to change just because this is a primary with a lot of candidates," she said.
