In the first segment of Fox News’ Special Report, Carl Cameron reported that Vermont Senator and self-described socialist Bernie Sanders’ filibuster, which was being broadcast live on C-Span, was picked up by a radio host who fed it live over the internet, which then went viral.
My Capitol Hill insider Elizabeth Letchworth who served as the secretary to the US Senate for 26 years and knows the parliamentary rules and regs and all the procedures that govern the Senate, is raising serious objections to this.
A leading progressive radio talk show host from XM/Sirius satellite radio today broadcast his radio show with a live feed from C-Span II. This was done in order for the radio show to display the Senate floor and the filibuster being conducted by Sen. Sanders (D-VT). He is talking on an extended basis on the Senate floor about the “global tax agreement” and explaining his opposition. The Senator notified the Senate Democratic Leadership before beginning his remarks at around 10:30AM that he would be concluding his remarks around 6pm on Friday.
The talk show host re-airs his radio show via Internet stream and again on Internet TV. Here is the link to hear for yourself:
http://www.thomhartmann.com/tv/watch
During his radio talk show, the host said he had an arrangement with Senator Sanders whereby listeners to the show should email questions for the Senator via the talk radio website. He will then get the questions to the Senator’s COS whereby the questions will be put in front of the Senator during his speech on the Senate floor. The Senator has agreed to address the questions and answer them on the Senate floor. This arrangement was announced several times during the talk radio show and again can be heard/seen at the link above.
This seems a clear abuse of the rights and duties of a U.S. Senator. I remember the cost to run the Senate floor, from lights, to electricity, security, etc…was around $90K per day. (Back in the early 2000’s)
This seems to be such an abuse of power on the part of the Senate democrats who control the schedule of the Senate floor.
Thought you might want to know that the greatest deliberative body, the U.S. Senate, along with our tax dollars, are being used to raise ratings for a liberal talk radio show.
Best,
The Honorable Elizabeth B. Letchworth
Secretary for the Majority/Minority-U. S. Senate-retired
Senior Legislative Advisor-Covington & Burling, LLC
Owner-Founder
GradeGov.com
Nothing the dimocrats (spelling incorrect on purpose) do surprises me in the least. They DON’T CARE about the cost to the public. So long as they get their agenda out there, they think they can bring public opinion around to their side. They still cannot conceive of the concept that most Americans DO NOT agree with their agenda. 2012 can’t get here fast enough for me.