Wednesday, October 28, 2015

40% of Americans make less than $20,000 a year

Open Borders Poverty

The two open borders parties that run Washington are flooding the nation with countless millions of legal and illegal workers in order to drive down wages for their Master on Wall Street. . . . . and it is working!
There is an explosion of food stamps and American citizens driven from the labor force, but the politicians keep importing new workers.

(Daily Caller) - Fifty-one percent of working Americans make less than $30,000 a year, new data from the Social Security Administration (SSA) shows.

That’s $2,500 a month before taxes and just over the federal poverty level for a family of five. The new numbers come from the National Wage Index, which SSA updates each year based on reported wages subject to the federal income tax.

In 2014, half of working Americans reported an income at or below $28,851 (the median wage), and 51 percent reported an income of less than $30,000. Forty percent are making less than $20,000. The federal government considers a family of four living on an income of less than $24,250 to be impoverished.

A chart from SSA shows that the difference between the median wage and the average wage continues to widen, signaling a declining middle class. These numbers are not adjusted for inflation.

The wage index doesn’t take into account the eight million Americans who are unemployed, or the tens of millions of working age Americans who are not participating in the job market. Nearly 40 percent of Americans are not working, which is the lowest participation rate since 1977.

Wages and share of income for the bottom 90 percent of American wage-earners declined over the past 40 years, as the foreign-born population increased dramatically, according to the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

Insanity - Ben Carson to abolish Medicare, Bush to raise retirement age

Charles Bronson in Death Wish 4

The Republican Death Wish

Sometimes you have to wonder if Republicans even want to win elections. I suspect the GOP has a Death Wish.
Republicans, who have proven they will not cut a dime out of the Federal budge, eagerly go on the record to abolish Medicare that voters depend on or raise the retirement age. These people are fucking nuts.

(Politico) - Republicans have fended off accusations for years that they'd gut Medicare for seniors and end the program "as we know it."

Not Ben Carson. The former neurosurgeon acknowledges he would abolish the program altogether.

Carson, who now leads the GOP field in Iowa according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, would eliminate the program that provides health care to 49 million senior citizens, as well as Medicaid, and replace it with a system of cradle-to-grave savings accounts which would be funded with $2,000 a year in government contributions.

While rivals have been pummeled for proposing less radical changes, Carson hasn't faced the same scrutiny -- and his continued traction in polls has left GOP strategists and conservative health care wonks scratching their heads.

"This isn’t a borderline issue. The politics of this are horrific," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, head of the American Action Forum and health care adviser to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.

Carson's stance on the third-rail issue of Medicare is especially risky given his strength among elderly voters. In Iowa, Carson draws a quarter of the senior vote -- more than double any other candidate except Donald Trump, with whom he’s statistically tied among seniors.

Carson’s support is even higher among voters between the ages of 55 and 64, who are on the verge of Medicare eligibility. He draws 34 percent of that age group, double Trump’s level of support, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

Carson's GOP rivals are largely holding their fire so far. Trump's campaign declined to comment, as did the campaigns of Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio. A spokeswoman for Bobby Jindal noted the Louisiana governor's support for reforming -- but preserving -- Medicare and Medicaid.

Read More . . . .

Jeb Bush to Fuck over Senior Citizens

Jeb says: "Keep working until you die, then

we don't have to pay out money."

(AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is proposing significant changes to Social Security and Medicare to keep the costly federal entitlement programs on solid financial footing.

Bush outlined his proposals on the website Medium.com on Tuesday, the day before the third Republican presidential debate, in Colorado.

Bush said he wants to gradually raise the retirement age for full benefits, adding one month each year, beginning in 2022 when the retirement age becomes 67 under current law. By 2034, the retirement age under his plan would be 68; by 2046 it would be 69. Currently, it's 66.

To encourage retirees to continue working, he would reduce benefits to those who want to retire early . . . .

Read More . . . .

Call me a "crazy" Blogger, but why do so many GOP "reforms" appear to put cash in the pockets of the Wall Street Elites who finance the GOP candidates?

Russia’s new ray gun blinds enemies in Syria

Target Practice on Islamists

How does this work again? The CIA arms Islamists and the Russians bomb Islamists. But we are told the Russians are "evil" and "aggressive" because they bomb Islamists. Am I missing something?

(Value Walk) - Russia has just unveiled its cutting-edge weapon that emits light so powerful it can literally blind enemies. The new weapon is expected to be used in Russia’s ongoing military operation against ISIS militants in Syria.

The new dazzling weapon, a ‘visual optical jammer’ called Grach, was unveiled at a military expo in Russia last week.

It was earlier reported that the Russian Navy is poised to conduct military tests with a new prototype of the ray gun on the frigate Admiral Gorshkov as well as other vessels.

“It [the new ray gun prototype] can save lives and hardware and causes a strong psychological effect on the enemy,” deputy director of device creator OPK Sergey Skokov said, as quoted by The Sunday Express.

Putin defends Russia's air strikes - BBC News

Skokov added that the new weapon will be used only against terrorists such as ISIS as well as pirates, and will not be limited to only the Russian military, which means the Kremlin plans exporting this weapon.

“Not only foreign navies, but also border guards and law enforcement agencies fighting against piracy on the seas may find it useful,” Skokov said.

The ray gun features four projectors, with the capacity to be controlled remotely. It is expected to be attached to defense vehicles such as hovercrafts, amphibious vehicles and hydrofoils in order to provide allied troops with cover by blinding enemies with strong light.

Russia uses Syrian conflict to test its weapons in the battlefield

Russian defense ministry recently reported that the Russian military campaign in Syria has destroyed a total of 71 armored vehicles, 30 other types of vehicles, 19 command facilities, 2 communications facilities, 23 depots with fuel and supplies, 6 plants manufacturing car bombs as well as several artillery units and training camps.

Russia’s military campaign in Syria thus presents a unique opportunity for the Russian military to test the effectiveness of its new weapons and see how they operate in the battlefield.

Russia has not had an opportunity to test its weapons in actual combat zones ever since the war in Afghanistan, while the U.S. and its Western allies have tested many of its tactics and weaponry in such military confrontations as Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.

Read More . . . .

Syria War 2015

Intense Insane Urban Clashes in Battle for Aleppo

Subterranean battle in Damascus- BBC News

While American politicians from both parties gut our military they love to trash the Russian military as somehow "inferior". I suspect that our worthless political hacks have never been on the receiving end of a Russian attack.

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

GOP funds IRS spying on your cellphone

The GOP is Creating Big Brother

This 1984 bullshit is why I have not called myself a Republican since 2003. I am a Constitutional Federalist first and forever.
For years the "small government" GOP Congress has been fully funding every possible system to spy on the American people.

(The Guardian) - The Internal Revenue Service is the latest in a growing list of US federal agencies known to have possessed the sophisticated cellphone dragnet equipment known as Stingray, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.

Invoices obtained following a request under the Freedom of Information Act show purchases made in 2009 and 2012 by the federal tax agency with Harris Corporation, one of a number of companies that manufacture the devices. Privacy advocates said the revelation “shows the wide proliferation of this very invasive surveillance technology”.

The 2009 IRS/Harris Corp invoice is mostly redacted under section B(4) of the Freedom of Information Act, which is intended to protect trade secrets and privileged information. However, an invoice from 2012, which is also partially redacted, reports that the agency spent $65,652 on upgrading a Stingray II to a HailStorm, a more powerful version of the same device, as well as $6,000 on training from Harris Corporation.

Stingrays are the best-known example of a type of device called an IMSI-catcher, also known as “cell-site simulators”. About the size of a briefcase, they work by pretending to be cellphone towers in order to strip metadata and in some cases even content from phones which connect to them.

Immense secrecy has so far surrounded these devices, but a picture is slowly emerging which shows widespread use. Various revelations by the American Civil Liberties Union and news outlets including the Guardian had shown that at least 12 federal agencies are already known to have these devices, including the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The IRS makes 13.

In November 2014, the Wall Street Journal uncovered an operation run by the US Marshals Service using a Boeing-made IMSI-catcher known as “dirtbox”. This is the first time that the IRS has been found to own the device.

The devices are also used by local and in some cases state police departments, across at least 20 states, though a culture of secrecy which surrounds Stingray devices has meant that the full scale of their use remains unknown.

A Guardian report in April revealed a non-disclosure agreement that local police and prosecutors were forced to sign with the FBI before using Stingrays, which mandated them to withdraw or even drop cases rather than risk revealing their use, and in September it emerged that this withholding of “discovery” evidence by police in Baltimore could lead to as many as 2,000 cases being overturned.

It remains unclear how the IRS used the Stingray devices. A spokesman for the agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Nate Wessler, a staff attorney with the speech, privacy and technology project at the ACLU, told the Guardian: “The info showing that they are using Stingrays is generally consistent with the kinds of investigative tactics that they are engaging in, and it shows the wide proliferation of this very invasive surveillance technology.”

“It’s used by dozens, perhaps hundreds, of local law enforcement, used by the usual suspects at the federal level, and if the IRS is using it, it shows just how far these devices have spread,” Wessler said.

Read More . . . .

John McAfee Fights Police Stingray Spying

Map of Big Brother Spying
Above is a map from the ACLU showing the massive increase of top secret Big Brother government spying on our cell phones and other devices. The ACLU had to publish the map because the "small government" Republican Party was too busy providing Federal funding to set up this unconstitutional Big Brother Police Surveillance State.

We are ruled by a one party state,
the party of Big Brother Government.

Food Police attack Bacon - A warning label in California?

The Food Nazis are on the march

(Huffington Post) - Bacon lovers, it may not be easy to brush off the World Health Organization's new ruling that red and processed meats cause cancer -- at least not in California.

Following WHO's Monday announcement classifying processed meats -- such as bacon, sausage, hot dogs and ham -- and red meats -- including beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse and goat -- as carcinogens, California should now require those products sold in the state to carry a warning label in accordance with Proposition 65, says the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity.

“The World Health Organization has put these meats in the same category as cigarettes in terms of the death and danger they deliver,” Stephanie Feldstein, population and sustainability director with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement sent to The Huffington Post. “Now, California must follow suit with public health warnings on the label. And it’s no surprise: the science has been clear that these meats are bad for people, not to mention for wildlife and the planet.”

Prop 65, passed in 1986, requires California to create a state list of all chemicals and substances identified by WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer as "carcinogenic to humans," the most dangerous level, which processed meats fall under; "probably carcinogenic to humans ... with sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals," the second-most dangerous level, which red meat falls under; and "possibly carcinogenic to humans ... with sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals." Businesses, the law notes, are required to provide a "clear and reasonable" warning before exposing anyone to a listed substance.

The warning may be in the form of a label on the meat's packaging, a sign or menu notation where the meat is sold or "a system of signs, public advertising identifying the system and toll-free information services," the law states.

The California attorney general's office, which is tasked with enforcing Prop 65, did not immediately return HuffPost's request for comment on how WHO's announcement will affect meat labeling in California.

Read More . . . .

Colorado may replace Obamacare with statewide single-payer plan

Blast from the past 2003 cartoon.
Bush and the GOP controlled Congress create a brand new prescription
entitlement program that put cash in the pockets of their big
business campaign contributors.

Bipartisan Big Government

Colorado Leftists are pushing a big tax increase for a single payer health system. At lease this program falls under the 10th Amendment and state's rights instead of a centralized Federal system.
GOP blocks free markets. The Republican Congress can pass market based reforms today if they gave a crap. Reforms like allowing health insurance policies to be sold over state lines to drive down prices or allowing inexpensive prescription drugs to be imported from Canada.
The GOP Congress does NOTHING and in Colorado the GOP opposes the plan of the Left while doing zero to help the people.

(Washington Times) - With Colorado’s shaky Obamacare exchange in peril, some health care advocates are calling for voters to scrap it and replace it with something far more ambitious.

Proponents of a statewide single-payer health care system have submitted 156,107 signatures, far more than the 98,492 required to qualify for the November 2016 ballot, to the Colorado secretary of state’s office for verification.

If the measure qualifies, Colorado would immediately become ground zero for a national debate on the concept of steep tax increases in return for guaranteed health care coverage for all residents, all against the backdrop of a pivotal presidential race.

The program, called ColoradoCare, comes with a steep price tag: $25 billion, which would be raised with a 10 percent payroll tax increase. At the same time, the plan would provide all residents with Medicare-style health care coverage and allow the state to dump Obamacare.

Whether Colorado voters would agree to take on that kind of tax hike is another question — two years ago, they rejected a comparatively paltry $1 billion tax increase for education — but there is no doubt that the “no-more-Obamacare” argument resonates with certain segments of the population.

“For some people, I say, ‘It gets us out of Obamacare,’ and some people cheer,” T.R. Reid, a spokesman for ColoradoCareYES, said during the signature-gathering campaign. “It’s a purple state, and we have this purple plan that can appeal to both sides.”

Under the proposal, known as Initiative 20, employers would be on the hook for the lion’s share, 6.67 percent, and employees would be responsible for 3.33 percent of the 10 percent. The program would be administered by a nonprofit cooperative, not a state agency, run by a 21-member board.

Much as Colorado conservatives may dislike Obamacare, they were quick Friday to denounce the single-payer proposal.

“‘Affordable’ care just got more expensive in Colorado,” Colorado Senate Republicans said on Twitter.

Read More . . . .

Both parties are lining their pockets with
Wall Street cash to block free market
healthcare reforms.

Mike Tyson Endorses Donald Trump

Danger for the Hildabeast

Trump acting to seal the borders (something the GOP has never done) could be the key to unlocking the African American vote. The Black community has been royally screwed over by the flood of cheap labor.

(Breitbart News) - Controversial former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson has endorsed Donald Trump for president.

During an interview with Huffington Post Live on Monday, Tyson shared his thoughts on the GOP frontrunner, as well as why he has his support.

“He should be president of the United States,” he said. “Yeah, hell yeah! Big time. Why wouldn’t anybody like that? A guy that came from where he came from, doing what he’s doing in that field, and now this is where he’s at now. You know what that means?”

Tyson continued:

That doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy and the people don’t know what they’re doing, that means the people are tired of what you’re doing, what you’ve been doing the last 20 years.

So let’s try something new! We tried Obama, right, time for a change. So we got to change. So now let’s try something new… Let’s run America like a business, where no colors matter. Whoever can do the job, gets the job.

Trump has been heavily criticized for his hardline stances on immigration and border security since he announced his bid for the Republican Party’s nomination in June. Despite that, Tyson says Trump still has his vote.

“He’s an average guy like everybody else…. Anytime people are going to say bad things about Latinos, they’re going to say bad things about Blacks, bad things about any ethnic people,” said Tyson.”Whatever it is, that’s just what this country was built on. But it doesn’t stop us from striving. It doesn’t stop us from becoming president.”

Read More . . . .

Monday, October 26, 2015

ISIS seizes key highway near Aleppo in spite of Russian jets

The U.S. War That Does Not Exist

For years Comrade Obama has been pumping mountains of weapons into the Syrian War to stir the pot of death and anarchy.
Then our leaders tell the American Sheeple that it is "evil" and "wrong" for Russia to help the the Syrians that Obama is trying to kill.
Pardon me, but this Blogger wants us to get the Hell out of there. Religious civil wars are none of our business.

(London Telegraph) - Russia’s aerial bombardment of Syria in support of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad showed further signs of backfiring last night as Islamic State forces seized a key supply line into the city of Aleppo.

The jihadists of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) cut the highway from the rest of government-held territory on Friday in a significant blow as the regime tries to dislodge rebels from the shattered city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said at least 28 Isil fighters and 21 government troops and allied militia had been killed in the battle for the highway.

The regime has launched multiple ground offensives against the rebels since Russia began an air campaign on September 30. In Aleppo, that has created a new impetus to a complicated three-sided war involving the regime, Isil and non-Isil rebels.

Mr Assad’s army is now backed by Russian jets, Iranian ground troops, and a constellation of militia fighters hailing from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and smaller groups sponsored by Iran and Russia.

Syrian government forces walk past a building bearing an
image on the wall with Islamic writing and reading in
Arabic the "Islamic State" in Aleppo Photo: AFP

But their offensives have stuttered, in part due to a flood of new anti-tank missiles that have reached moderate rebel groups from the United States, Turkey and Qatar.

By one calculation, the rebels’ usage of American-made TOW missiles has increased by 850% since Russia’s intervention, stiffening defence capabilities and inflicting heavier losses on the regime.

At least 14 of Iran’s elite troops have also been killed during the past 11 days. Among the dead are two generals and a one-time bodyguard to the former Iranian prime minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Experts say the escalation in regime firepower is pushing rebels from the US-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) closer to the more conservative Islamist groups which have traditionally enjoyed greater success on the battlefield, thanks in part to better funding. These include Jabhat al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda linked groups.

Jabhat al-Nusra said on Saturday that one of its Egyptian commanders, known as Abu Suleiman al-Masri, had been killed in southern Aleppo.

However, the bombing, which has mostly struck non-Isil rebel groups, also appears to have actually empowered Isil, even though it is supposedly the primary target of the Russian operation. It has seemingly been able to transfer fighters from fronts against other rebel groups to those against the regime itself.

In an apparent shift in policy, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said on Saturday that Moscow was ready to help the so-called “moderate rebels” including those backed by the United States in their fight against Isil.

"We are ready to also support patriotic opposition, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, from the air," he said in a television interview.

The comments may also be part of a broader strategy that aims to peel rebel and Kurdish fighters away from their American backers and sow division in the ranks of the armed opposition.

The proposal met with bemusement. "Russia is bombing the Free Syrian Army and now it wants to co-operate with us, while it remains committed to Assad? We don't understand Russia at all!" Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Saoud, a spokesman for the Division 13 rebel group, said.

Read More . . . .

Iraqi PMU Continues Advance In Order To Secure Baiji

Syrian War - 2015

Heavy Clashes Between 1st Free Syrian Army Coastal Division And Syrian Army

Screenshot - Battle of Baiji

Trump-Carson tied in Iowa, Trump ahead in NH, SC

A Two Man Race?

Anything can and will happen, but I suspect we are moving to a two man race. Campaign cash for the other candidates should start to dry up soon.

(CBS News) - The Republican nomination fight continues to be dominated by political newcomers Donald Trump and Ben Carson. In Iowa, Carson has moved up to tie Trump.

In South Carolina and New Hampshire, there is Donald Trump with a large lead, and then there is everyone else.

Trump's support in New Hampshire is about the same as it was a month ago. In South Carolina, Trump has a large lead as well.

The study shows a bit of the populism driving GOP politics now, too: Republican voters in all three states are likely to say the party isn't paying enough attention to the middle class. Voters are more likely to say the party is paying too much attention to its large donors and to the wealthy.

Donald Trump's backers are strongly likely to voice this complaint. At least six in ten in New Hampshire and Iowa want the party to pay more attention to the middle class. Most of Trump's voters - and most of Carson's - in South Carolina think the party is paying too much attention to donors.

Read More . . . .

Vitter barely makes Louisiana governor runoff

David Vitter used her Brothel

Sex and Conservatism

I have embraced the reality that all human beings are fucked up. But I just love sex scandals from "family values" Republicans.
Now the GOP has nominate the most recent king of Senatorial sex scandals giving the Democrats a shot at winning the Governor's race.

(Politico) - David Vitter barely survived months of attacks — including explicit references to his 2007 prostitution scandal — to outlast two other Republicans in Saturday's Louisiana gubernatorial primary and earn a spot in a runoff election next month.

But now the toughest test yet looms for Vitter: What was once expected to be an easy race against the lone major Democratic candidate has the scandal-marred second-term senator again fighting for his political life.

State Rep. John Bel Edwards — who finished first in Saturday's open primary with 40 percent of the vote, according to The Associated Press — starts the month-long sprint to the runoff ahead of Vitter in the polls. Louisiana is an unlikely pick-up opportunity for Democrats — a party that doesn't control a governorship or state legislative chamber in the Deep South after decades of dominance.

Democrats believe Edwards, a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger who opposes abortion rights and supports gun rights, is the perfect candidate to take on Vitter, even if the latter is a high-profile conservative with plentiful financial backing. But even an ideal Democrat and a flawed Republican might not be enough to win in a state President Barack Obama lost by 16 percentage points in 2012 and then-Sen. Mary Landrieu, who comes from a legendary Louisiana political family, lost by 12 percentage points a runoff last year.

Edwards projected confidence in the Nov. 21 runoff during his victory speech Saturday night.

"We're going to kick their butts," he predicted, before shifting to emphasize his own honesty and question Vitter: "David Vitter wouldn't last five minutes at West Point."

Among those Edwards still needs to convince of his viability is the Democratic Governors' Association, which has yet to spend money on television ads in the contest and isn't committing to do so during the run-off. The DGA is sending Scott Arcenaux, a Louisiana native who was previously executive director of the Florida Democratic Party, to assist Edwards' campaign.

Read More . . . .

(R)

[]Governor of Louisiana, Blanket Primary, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	John Bel Edwards	39.9%	444,061
	Republican	David Vitter	23%	256,105
	Republican	Scott Angelle	19.3%	214,907
	Republican	Jay Dardenne	15%	166,553
	Democratic	Cary Deaton	1.1%	11,750
	Democratic	S L Simpson	0.7%	7,411
	Independent	Beryl Billiot	0.5%	5,690
	Independent	Jeremy "JW" Odom	0.4%	4,755
	Independent	Eric Paul Orgeron	0.2%	2,244
Total Votes				1,113,476
Election Results Louisiana Secretary of State.

K

Thomas Pinckney, Federalist

Commissioned as captain in the 1st South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army. After seeing much action, he became an aide-de-camp to General Horatio Gates. He was captured by the British at the disastrous Battle of Camden in 1780. After recovering from his wounds, he was released in a prisoner exchange. In 1781 he fought under Lafayette in Virginia. Appointed by President George Washington to be the U.S. minister to Great Britain served as Envoy Extraordinary to Spain. The Federalist Party made him a candidate in the 1796 presidential election as the intended running-mate of John Adams. Served as Congressman and Governor of South Carolina. Served as a major general in the Army during the War of 1812.

Henry Lee III, Federalist

Major General "Light-Horse Harry" Lee fought at the battles of Paulus Hook, Guilford Court House, Eutaw Springs, Yorktown and the Whiskey Rebellion. Federalist Congressman from Virginia, Governor of Virginia. Father of Robert E. Lee. In 1812 Lee was attacked by a Jeffersonian mob of Democratic-Republicans while defending a Federalist newspaper from attack. Lee and the other Federalists were beaten and tortured by the mob over the next three hours. Lee was left partially blinded after hot wax was poured into his eyes. The men were left for dead. All were severely injured, and one Federalist, General James Lingan, died.

Frederick Frelinghuysen, Federalist

In the War of Independence he served in the New Jersey militia as an artillery captain, seeing action at Trenton and Monmouth. Attained the rank of colonel. Member of the Continental Congress. Served in the New Jersey General Assembly. Member of the New Jersey convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1787. President George Washington appointed him as brigadier general in the United States Army for the 1790 campaign against the western Indians. Commissioned major general in the New Jersey militia in 1794, during the Whiskey Rebellion. Elected to the United States Senate.

Stephen Van Rensselaer, Federalist

Van Rensselaer served in the New York Assembly and Senate. He served as the Federalist Lt. Governor under John Jay. In 1786, Van Rensselaer was made a major of the militia. As a Major General in the War of 1812 he led an army in an invasion of Canada and fought at the Battle of Queenston Heights. In 1813 Van Rensselaer was the Federalist candidate for Governor of New York earning 48% of the vote. A shift of only 1,800 votes would have made him Governor. In 1822 he was elected to Congress as a Federalist serving until 1829.

WILLIAM PATERSON, Federalist

James Hillhouse, Federalist

Hillhouse served as captain in Governor's Foot Guards in the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, Congressman from Connecticut at-large, 1791–96, and a Federalist Party U. S. Senator from Connecticut, 1796–1810. He was the anti-slavery leader of the Congress in the early days of the Republic. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Hillhouse fought to bar the importation of slaves into the Louisiana Territory. "I consider slavery as a serious evil," he proclaimed, "and wish to check it wherever I have authority." Two of Hillhouse's amendments restricting slavery passed the Congress and were signed into law.

Oliver Ellsworth, Federalist

In 1777 he was chosen as one of Connecticut's representatives in the Continental Congress. Served at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia as a delegate from Connecticut. On June 20, 1787 he proposed the use of the name the United States to identify the nation under the authority of the Constitution. United States Senator from Connecticut. Ellsworth was the principal exponent in the Senate of Alexander Hamilton's economic program. In 1796 Ellsworth was appointed by President George Washington to be Chief Justice of the United States. Served as United States Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of France. Ellsworth was a candidate in the 1796 United States Presidential election, receiving eleven votes in the electoral college.

Robert Goodloe Harper, Federalist

At the age of fifteen, Harper joined a volunteer corps of Cavalry and served in the American Revolutionary Army. Harper was elected as a Federalist Congressman from South Carolina (1795 - 1801). In 1798 at a dinner in Philadelphia honoring John Marshall, a group of U.S. Congressmen were discussing a recent demand made by the government of France. French vessels had been plundering US ships in a piratical manner. French foreign minister Talleyrand said the attacks would be stopped if the US paid him $250,000 and gave France 50,000 pounds sterling and a $100 million loan. As toasts were made, Harper sent his own defiant reply to the French with this toast: “Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.” Harper served in the War of 1812, attaining the rank of major general. He moved to Maryland and was elected as a Federalist to the US Senate. He was an unsuccessful Federalist candidate for Vice President in the 1816 election. He also received one electoral vote for Vice President in the 1820 election.

Jacob Read, Federalist

Alexander Contee Hanson, Federalist

Member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Editor of the "Federal Republican", a Federalist Party newspaper in Baltimore. Four days after the beginning of the War of 1812 a mob of pro-war Democrat-Republicans destroyed his newspaper office. The paper moved to another building where Hanson was joined by a group of armed allies. When that building was besieged by another mob, Hanson and his group fired, killing two. Hanson and his group surrendered to the militia and were escorted to jail. That evening yet another mob stormed the jail. Hanson was beaten and left for dead. Hanson was elected as a Federalist to Congress in 1812 and 1814. In 1816 he was elected as a Federalist to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate until his death in 1819 at the age of 33.

William Bingham, Federalist

As a merchant he brought full loads of munitions & guns for the war. Served as a diplomat for Congress to France. Bingham marshaled the Second Troop of Philadelphia Light Horse. He served in the Continental Congress, 1st Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, State Senator, and US Senator. Federalists agreed to hold preliminary votings at the Bingham Estate before propositions were brought before Congress publicly, thus creating unanimity among party lines. Alexander Hamilton sought Bingham as his mentor in managing taxes, tariffs, and in constructing a national bank.

Ezekiel Whitman, Federalist

Whitman practiced law in New Gloucester, Maine and in Portland, Maine (both communities a district of Massachusetts until 1820). In 1808 Whitman was elected as a Federalist Congressman from Massachusetts and served one term. In 1816 he was again elected as a Federalist to the US House serving from 1817 to 1821. In 1819 he was a delegate to the convention that prepared the constitution which led to Maine's statehood. In 1820 he was elected as a Federalist Congressman from the new state of Maine serving until 1822. Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court from 1841 to 1848.

David Cobb, Federalist

Cobb studied medicine in Boston and practiced in Taunton, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1775; lieutenant colonel of Jackson’s regiment in 1777 and 1778, serving in Rhode Island and New Jersey; was aide-de-camp on the staff of General George Washington; appointed major general of militia in 1786. Fought in the New York and New Jersey Campaign, the Battles of Springfield, Monmouth, Rhode Island and Shay's Rebellion. He served the Federalist Party as Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, President of the State Senate and Congressman.

Josiah Parker, Federalist

In 1775 Parker enlisted in the Continental Army. He was commissioned a major in the 5th Virginia Regiment in 1776 and became its colonel in 1778. His regiment served in Virginia under General Charles Lee and was transferred to George Washington. The regiment thereafter saw action at the Battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston. During Cornwallis's Virginia campaign in 1781, the notorious Colonel Tarleton ransacked his home. He was elected to the First US Congress from Virginia serving for twelve years.

William Stephens Smith, Federalist

Smith married Abigail "Nabby" Adams, the daughter of President John Adams, and so was a brother-in-law of President John Quincy Adams, and an uncle of Charles Francis Adams. Served in the Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General John Sullivan. Fought in the Battle of Long Island, was wounded at Harlem Heights, Battle of White Plains, was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the Battle of Trenton, fought at the Battle of Monmouth and Newport. He was on the staff of General Lafayette, became an adjutant in the Corps of Light Infantry, then transferred to the staff of George Washington. Elected as a Federalist Congressman from New York.

Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Federalist

John Rutledge, Jr., Federalist

Rutledge served as Congressman from South Carolina. A passionate Federalist, he supported Aaron Burr against Jefferson, founding the Charleston Courier (predecessor of the Post and Courier) to support his causes. Joining the South Carolina Militia in 1799, Rutledge served as commander of the Twenty-eighth Regiment in the War of 1812. He subsequently commanded the Seventh Brigade from 1816 until his death. Rutledge's life was fraught with controversy. Catching his wife (mother to his nine children) in a "clandestine visit" with Dr. Horace Senter, Rutledge challenged him to a duel, fatally wounding the doctor.

John Sergeant, Federalist

Member of the Pennsylvania state house of representatives 1808-1810; elected as a Federalist to Congress and served from 1815, to 1823. Sergeant was a strong backer of Henry Clay's American System and the Second Bank of the United States, and even traveled to Europe to negotiate loans to the Bank. He was a strong opponent of slavery who voted against the Missouri Compromise. In 1826 he was an envoy to the Panama Congress. Elected to Congress as an Adams candidate 1827 to 1829. Failing re-election he became legal counsel to the Bank of the United States. Sergeant was the Vice Presidential running mate in Henry Clay's campaign on the National Republican ticket in 1832. Elected as a Whig to Congress serving from 1837 to 1841.

John Laurance, Federalist

Philip Barton Key, Federalist

Key had been a Loyalist in the American Revolution. He served in the Maryland Loyalists Battalion as a captain. Key fought with the British Army from 1777 to 1781, until he was captured by the Spanish in Pensacola, Florida with the rest of his battalion. After the war he served as Mayor of Annapolis & member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Appointed a Federal Judge by John Adams. He was a Counsel to Justice Samuel Chase during Chase's Jefferson ordered impeachment show-trial in 1805. Elected as a Federalist to Congress from Maryland (1807 - 1813). Francis Scott Key was his nephew.