Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, which means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.

CongressDaily’s Dan Friedman and Megan Scully, said, “Senate aides said a blanket hold represents a far more aggressive use of the power than is normal.” They added that Harry Reid was the source of the news regarding the blanket hold.

Shelby had nothing to say about it. The news was broken by Harry Reid’s office. The hold extends to “all executive nominations on the Senate calendar.” Shelby is holding Obama’s nominees hostage until a pair of lucrative programs that would send billions in taxpayer dollars to his home state get back on track. The two programs Shelby wants to move forward or else:

- A $40 billion contract to build air-to-air refueling tankers. From CongressDaily: “Northrop/EADS team would build the planes in Mobile, Ala., but has threatened to pull out of the competition unless the Air Force makes changes to a draft request for proposals.” Federal Times offers more details on the tanker deal, and also confirms its connection to the hold.

- An improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI. From CongressDaily: “[Shelby] is frustrated that the Obama administration won’t build” the center, which Shelby earmarked $45 million for in 2008. The center is due to be based “at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal.”

Though a Shelby spokesperson would not confirm that these programs were behind the blanket hold, the Senator expressed his frustration about the progress on both through a spokesperson to both CongressDaily and the Federal Times.

We cannot confirm any previous use of a blanket hold in recent history. But it makes sense to spend federal dollars on programs (in any state) that either maintains employment or REALLY creates jobs. The idea of killing hundreds of thousands of jobs each month and then saying the “stimulus” is creating them is delusional. Americans who haven’t awakened to the reality that their tax dollars are being spent, not to create or hold jobs, but to pay off unions, ACORN and others who helped put Obama into power, need to adjust to the reality of it very quickly. Someone MUST put an end to this and the only people who can are the members of the GOP. They aren’t the party of “NO”, they are the party of NO WE WON’T GO ALONG WITH IRRESPONSIBLE SPENDING any longer.

It is apparent that Shelby and other top-ranking GOP members of the Senate as well as the House of Representatives, have grown weary of the games that the Obama administration and the Democratic majority are playing with the American people, the Constitution as well as the economic stability of this nation. Shelby is taking action to protect what amounts to a source of a major portion of the economy in Alabama, and in turn to our tax base in Alabama as well as the nation.

At a time when some Senators are selling out their votes and making backroom deals in order to make it possible to shove the unwanted health care legislation down the throats of Americans who have plainly made it known that they do not want it; Shelby is standing up for his constituents. Those senators who have taken money for votes are allowing themselves to be used by Obama, Pelosi and Reid. They are no more than political whores. They are putting more of a tax burden on the other states and these unfunded mandates being handed down to the states by the federal government are breaking the states and the backs of American taxpayers at a time when they should be receiving assistance.

The State of Alabama cannot lose any more jobs. Senator Richard Shelby and Senator Jeff Sessions have consistently been the voice of reason in the midst of the insanity in Washington, D.C.

Democrats have recently tried to paint Republicans as the party of “no” when, in fact, the GOP has offered suggestion after suggestion to the enormous spending legislation the Democrats have pushed on this country at a time when we simply cannot afford it. This country is bankrupt in reality. Anyone who does any research can easily find that the picture Democrats are trying to paint of Republicans is a lie. Like everything else that has come out of this administration and from Pelosi and Reid, they are just more of the same worn-out lies, misrepresentation and the American people have grown extremely tired of this.

Some might suggest Shelby is holding out for “pork” but this is not about pork. This is about forcing the Democrat’s hand on legislation that will hurt this country and on the nomination of candidates that are more liberal than anyone can imagine. Obama has surrounded himself with advisors, czars and nominations for cabinet positions who come from academia. They sit in a little room, surrounded by books and have their “theories” which are not in touch with mainstream America. Most are revolutionaries, communist-sympathizers or supporters or marxists. Obama said it best when he said he was going to “fundamentally change America” and he was not kidding folks. His idea of what America should be is what Americans in the past have fought to keep from becoming reality in other countries around the world and to protect our shores from the same. Now we have it right under our noses.

More Senators and Congressman should have the GUTS to take measures such as this. The American people have burned the telephone lines down, the fax machines up and blistered e-mails to Congress to take whatever measures necessary to STOP the insanity. Richard Shelby got the message.

Bamabelle