On a 63-35 vote, the Senate has broken the filibuster against Cass Sunstein, President Obama’s nominee for Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. The Senate will hold an up-or-down vote on the nomination later this week. Republicans voting for cloture: Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). Democrats voting against: Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Sen. James Webb (D-Va.).
On his Fox News show, Glenn Beck occasionally cut to the Senate floor and warned his audience that it was “in danger” if Sunstein was confirmed.
Conservative talker Glenn Beck says Cass Sunstein, who is awaiting Senate confirmation as President Obama's new Regulatory Czar, "is probably the most dangerous czar out there."
Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor and longtime friend of Obama, would head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, and oversee all governmental regulations.
Beck blasted Sunstein on the air Wednesday and outlined several of his positions:
"This is a guy who thinks that rats should be able to have attorneys. If you have rats in your basement, you are not to poison rats. You can't make this stuff up."
Beck said Sunstein "would like to control the Internet" and espouses "a legislative effort to regulate broadcasting in the interest of Democratic principles. Wow, that's the words that [Venezuelan President Hugo] Chavez always used
Beck said Democrats need 60 votes to confirm Sunstein but "they cannot get 60 votes with Ted Kennedy gone. That means every single Republican must stand against Cass Sunstein, and most of these weasels in Washington haven't done their homework enough to know who this guy is."
Beck told listeners: "It is time to get everyone you know to call Capitol Hill" and voice opposition to Sunstein. "Call the Senate," because Sunstein is "the most dangerous guy out there right now."
GLENN: Okay, now I have really good news. Do you remember when I said don't pay attention to what they want you to pay attention to because it's always what the other hand does. Remember that? What did they do last night after we got off the air? Last night when I went off the air, I said on the air, I believe Cass Sunstein is probably the most dangerous czar out there, but I had hope because we had three senators standing up against his confirmation because this guy is not actually a czar. They are calling him the regulatory czar but he has to be confirmed through the Senate. And there were three senators that ‑‑ what do they call this when they ‑‑
STU: Putting a hold on the nomination?
GLENN: Putting a hold on the nomination. We're checking now. I should have this information here in the next few minutes, but we're running some research on now on how many times have you had one senator put a hold on confirmation process and have it overturned. How many times in the history of our country have you had three senators stand up and say, no, no, no, hold.
STU: Probably every five weeks, just like the debt.
GLENN: It could be.
STU: It very well could be.
GLENN: Very good, thank you. Want to know how many times this has happened. Last night when we got off the air they announced that Harry Reid was going to push for cloture on Cass Sunstein so he would be confirmed today. Forget about healthcare. Rush Limbaugh, I saw a statement from him last night. He's absolutely right. It is a Trojan horse. You have no idea, neither do I, what they're building. But it ain't about health and it ain't about care. There is no compromise on anything. Engines at full stop. The republic is at stake, and there are too many people playing too many games. There are too many people playing ‑‑ they don't understand. They're willing to compromise because they're still playing the game as the game has always been played. The game was wrong in the first place, and the game is about to be over. Cass Sunstein is a guy who is against the Second Amendment who believes that the purpose of the Second Amendment is not an individual right but a federal right. He says almost all gun control legislation is constitutionally fine and if the Court is right, the fundamentalism does not justify the view. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. He believes that the Second Amendment is the biggest ‑‑ I'm looking for the ‑‑ I'm looking for the exact quote ‑‑ is the biggest lie in American history. He also believes that we ought to ban hunting. He says willingness to subject animals to suffering will be seen as a form of barbarity, morally akin to slavery and the mass extermination of human beings. He believes that animals should have a right, should be able to bring suit because they are not property. You can't own a dog. They should be able to sue you. They would also have a right to property as well. So if you've got an animal that is roaming around, well, gee, we have to have their ‑‑ that's their property. That's where they live.
PAT: He would be fun to have on a hunting trip, hunting, fishing.
GLENN: Just crying himself to sleep.
PAT: Be great.
GLENN: On free speech Cass Sunstein says, quote, many discussion groups and websites less and often more extreme that can be found on the Internet. Discussion groups and websites of this kind have been around for a number of years. On the National Rifle Association's "Bullet N Board," a place where discussions of matters of mutual interest, someone calling himself Warmaster explained how to make bombs out of ordinary household will materials. Warmaster explained these simple, powerful bombs are not very well known even though all the materials can be easily obtained by anyone including minors. That is why he would like to control the Internet. A legislative effort to regulate broadcasting in the interest of Democratic principles. Wow, that's the words that Chavez always used. Should not be seen as an abridgement of the free speech guarantee. Regulate broadcast in the interest of Democratic principles is not an abridgement of the free speech guarantee. A system of limitless individual choices with respect to communications is not necessarily in the interest of citizenship and self‑government. On civil liberties courts should ordinarily require restrictions on civil liberties to be authorized by the legislature. On taxes Sunstein scolds readers like small‑minded selfish children for opposing the size, scope, expansion and skyrocketing expense of the government. Quote: In what sense in the money in our pockets and bank accounts are fully ours. Did we earn it by our autonomous efforts? Could we have inherited it without the assistance of probate courts? Do we save it without the sport of bank regulators? Could we spend it if there were no public officials to coordinate the efforts and pool the resources of the community in which we live. Without taxes there is no liberty. He also believes that we need a second Bill of Rights. In a nutshell, quoting, the New Deal helped vindicate a simple idea. No one really opposes government intervention. Even the people who most loudly denounce government interference depend on it every single day. For better or worse, the Constitution's framers gave no thought to including social and economic guarantees in the Bill of Rights. This will be a gigantic move in the direction of gigantic government because let me explain what he's going to do. He's the author of a book called Nudge. He doesn't believe that anybody should be told what to do through regulation, through laws, new laws. We're not going to ban meat. This is a guy who thinks that rats should be able to have attorneys. If you have rats in yo ur basement, you are not to poison rats. You can't make this stuff up.
Here's what his job is. He doesn't want to change the laws. All he wants to do is just tweak the regulations. So the laws are passed and then he tweaks the regulations. We've seen this ‑‑ this is what's happening right now in California with the farmers. The animals have to be saved. The smelt, a four‑inch fish, the smelt needs to be saved. Farmers can't use that much water. So they've reduced the water supply to farms by, what is it, 80 or 90%. Well, the farmers ‑‑ this is an area now that has 28 to 40% unemployment. The farmers cannot farm. They don't have enough water. All for the smelt. That is what a regulatory czar does: Well, let's just ‑‑ he can't have that much water. He turns the knobs, 5% here, 3% here, 8% here, 12% here. And before you know it, well, for instance, he doesn't want you to eat meat. He thinks it's wrong. We shouldn't have cattle slaughtered and sheep and lamb. That's wrong. So let's make sure that he oversees the fish and wildlife department regulations. Let's make sure that we tweak those regulations. Oh, there's a bucktooth beaver mouse that happens to go into the grazing lands. Well, that animal, they have a right to property, and, and they're endangered. So let's tweak that a bit. Let's make those grazing lands a little more difficult for people to control, a little more difficult for you to graze your cattle on. We just tweak that a little bit. I'm not saying that we're stopping cattle ranches. That's crazy talk. Let me just quick it, making it more difficult. Oh, and by the way, I'm going to regulate a little more on the feed and the grain that are federal to the cattle. And we need to get in with the FDA, we need to have a little stiffer regulations on the way our inspections are done and the butchering of the cattle and let's just tweak just a little bit on how it's transported. Before you know it, your $8 steak is now $25. Well, he hasn't done anything. He's just made it harder for farmers to make and grow cows to give you beef. This is the way it ends. Today they are going to vote for cloture. They are doing it while everybody's talking about healthcare. Harry Reid, this guy has three holds on him. They need 60 votes. They cannot get 60 votes with Ted Kennedy gone. But that means every single Republican must stand against Cass Sunstein, and most of these weasels in Washington haven't done their homework enough to know who this guy is. They haven't pieced this together because nobody for some reason will look at the whole picture. Well, I have to tell you, I have seen you educate those in congress. I have seen it happen. I've seen it with the Republican who said whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, there are no communists in the White House. And I've seen the town hall where people stand up, "Van Jones!" Who? What? And you educated him. I've seen it happen with my own eyes. You are on it. It is time to get everyone you know to call Capitol Hill. Call the Senate. Democrats, listen. Your hunting rights are at stake. Your gun rights are at stake. He's never going to change the laws and that's what they'll tell you. And it's true. He'll never change the laws. He's just going to make everything more difficult. For instance, they haven't banned guns in New York City. But try to get one! They haven't made it illegal. They've just made it impossible to be able to get past the regulation. That is what his expertise is. The most dangerous guy out there right now. I thought we had more time. We don't. You have ‑‑ I don't even know. They haven't announced when that vote is coming, but you better burn up the phone lines now. Democrats, you've got to call your Democratic ‑‑ there are, I believe there's one Democrat that has his name on the list that says a hold but doesn't want his name released. You've got to call your Democrats. Any, anybody who lives in a state where it is farming, anybody who lives in a state where they are sensitive to the Second Amendment, anybody who cares about free speech on the Internet! Let alone broadcast. Forget about broadcast. The Internet! It is the only lifeline that you'll have. You've got to call them today. You vote no on Cass Sunstein. No on Cass Sunstein. Call them now. They're trying to get this through today before you are real ly informed on who this guy is.
Stu, what is the Web address with all of the quotes of him?
STU: StopSunstein.com has a lot of them.
GLENN: Okay. Go there. We'll include it in the free e‑mail newsletter but we'll put a blast out hopefully this morning with this. You have to do this now and you have to wake everybody up, right now. Gigantic loss if he's confirmed. And they're going to do it today.
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