Massachusetts

Does anybody seriously believe that Democrats are in danger of losing Teddy Kennedy's Senate seat for the first time in 2 generations because they're on the verge of passing a health care reform package that's too liberal?

Continue reading Massachusetts

Wagers?

What's the over/under on Roland Burris' resignation? My money is on Friday afternoon, around 4:30 or 5.

Continue reading Wagers?

A candidate i can get behind

Stormy Daniels to challenge Louisiana Republican Senator David (Diapers) Vitter in 2010?

More here.

Continue reading A candidate i can get behind

Funny, I don't remember voting for a coalition government

Gregg sets conditions for Cabinet job
Fuck Judd Gregg. What do we owe New Hampshire Republicans anyway?

(And while we're at it, Tom Daschle needs to take a hike too. Does Obama really think that Daschle is the guy who's going to lead us into a new health care era?)

Continue reading Funny, I don't remember voting for a coalition government

WTF?

From MoveOn:

Dear MoveOn member,

This week, the Senate will vote on President Obama's economic stimulus plan—with historic investments in green jobs, health care, and education to get our economy back on track.

But right now, the stimulus doesn't have the votes to pass.1 Republicans and conservative Democrats are teaming up to strip out the good stuff—college loan assistance, health research, tax cuts for poor folks, and more—in favor of more tax cuts for corporations.2 If they don't get their way, they'll block the plan.

Last week, not a single Republican in the House voted for Obama's plan—they didn't think voters would ever hold them accountable. That's why we're asking folks to pledge now to help run ads after the vote letting the public know where key senators—both Republican and Democrat—came down on the bill. We need to get started now, so politicians and the media know their constituents are paying attention.

Can you pledge now to make sure senators know that voters will hold them accountable for their vote? You won't need your credit card—just let us know how much you'd like to pledge:

If Harry fuckin' Reid and His Band of Merry Men can't get this plan through the Senate 4 months after the election, maybe it's time the Democrats dumped his ass in a nuclear waste storage facility and found someone who knows how to be a majority leader.

Where's Lyndon Johnson when we need him?

Continue reading WTF?

Harry - are you taking notes?

Republicans were preparing a strong fight against the aid plan in the Senate, not only taking on the Democrats but standing in open revolt against their party's lame-duck president on the measure.

The Republicans want to force the companies into bankruptcy or mandate hefty concessions from autoworkers and creditors as a condition of any federal aid. They also oppose an environmental mandate that House Democrats insisted on including in the measure.

Considering that you couldn't even stand up to Joe Lieberman, how do you propose to run the Senate next year when these guys pull this shit over every bill that comes to the floor?

Continue reading Harry - are you taking notes?

Filibuster

I guess that "straight up or down vote" is a quaint relic of the past.

Continue reading Filibuster

Living under a rock

OK, so Republicans in the Senate have successfully filibustered a new bill which would, however tentatively, put the US on a path to reduce carbon emissions. That's not unsurprising. And hey, it's pretty likely that the bill's "cap and trade" plan isn't perfect, and we can probably do better after the election when maybe we'll have the 60 votes we need to smack down this filibustering of every goddamn bill that they don't like.

But this?

(C)ritics of the bill said it threatened economic growth and would raise people's energy bills.

Seriously, do Republican Senators live completely cloistered lives? Do any of them ever, you know, have to pay for a tank of gas or an electric bill?

Hasn't current policy "threatened economic growth" and "raised people's energy bills" without providing any relief from carbon emissions? Oh, yeah, and massive profits for oil companies.

I think cutting into those is what might be generating opposition from Senate Republicans, no?

UPDATE: The N&O reports that North Carolina's two Republican Senators are split on this bill, with Richard Burr opposing it ("It's a Ponzi scheme," Burr said.) and Liddy Dole supporting it How much of Liddy's support is based on her reelection prospects?

Asked whether she thought global warming would be part of her campaign, Dole said she thinks voters may be focused on other issues.

"Obviously it's something I'll talk about from time to time because it's a major issue that we face, but in terms of what people ask about, I think frankly the immigration issue will be talked about a lot more," Dole said.

Global catastrophe vs. scary brown people? Hmmm. We know where Republicans' priorities lie.

Continue reading Living under a rock

Hall of Shame

Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Tom Carper (D-DE), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Jim Webb (D-VA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Kent Conrad (D-ND), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)

Continue reading Hall of Shame

She must be running for re-election

I don't know if literally throwing money at the taxpayers in an effort to head off a recession is the best approach or not. The Bush administration and the House of Representatives thought so when they passed an "economic stimulus" package a week or so ago.

The Senate is working on a slightly different package that would also extend unemployment benefits in certain areas and give money to some people (some disabled veterans, for example) who don't have any earned income to report. Not unexpectedly, Republicans in the Senate filibustered this plan. Equally predictable, media accounts didn't use the "f" word to describe the maneuver*.

What was totally unexpected, at least from my perspective, is that Liddy Dole voted with the Democrats to close debate on the plan.

She must be feeling the heat.

*UPDATE: I take that back.

Continue reading She must be running for re-election

Emails

Dear Barry,

John Edwards should challenge his rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to go back to Washington, DC and fight against retroactive immunity for the telecoms.

The Republicans are not going to let Harry Reid punt and extend the Protect America Act for another 18 months so it looks like the FISA bill is going to come back up again on Monday. Chris Dodd's objection to Unanimous Consent still stands, so they will pick up in the middle of the Motion to Proceed debate.

Without the help of the presidential candidates, we are doomed to lose this fight. And all their calls for change will ring hollow if they allow George Bush to railroad this bill through a supine Democratic-controlled Senate because of their absence.

You can email Senator Edwards directly at john@johnedwards.com.

Cheers,

Jane Hamsher & Glenn Greenwald

This really should be a no-brainer for Democrats who want to lead this country out of the Bush years.

Continue reading Emails

Meanwhile, in the real world . . .

Up in Washington, DC, the Senate today will vote on the Feingold/Reid amendment, which calls on the President to withdraw US combat forces from Iraq within 4 months, and cuts off funding for troop deployment at the end of next March.

Leading candidates for the Democratic nomination for the presidency are supporting it, but frankly, i don't think there's a ghost of a chance of it passing. Forty votes will be a significant achievement, and it could get as many as forty five, i think. Here in North Carolina, represented as we are by Liddy Dole and Richard Burr, neither of whom are capable of thought independent fromt he Whit House party line, i don't see any reason to call our Senators urging them to support the amendment. Dole's vote in support of Bush's failed Iraq policy will be another reason why North Carolina will be represented by a new Senator after November, 2008.

UPDATE: Not even close. 29 Senators supported the Feingold/Reid amendment. That's only a little more than half the Democrats in the Senate.

We're pretty well fucked. And we probably deserve it.

UPDATE 2: the 29-67 vote was merely a vote to close debate on the Feingold amendment. So we didn't even get the "straight up-or-down" vote that our Republican friends were so hot and bothered about for so many things during the previous 6 years. Pretty pathetic that Dems coulnd't even muster the 41 votes needed to bring this thing to the floor.

Sixteen Dems, including (surprisingly to me, at least) Carl Levin of Michingan, voted against cloture. No Republicans voted for cloture. Liddy Dole is listed as not voting. Hope she's feeling OK.

Continue reading Meanwhile, in the real world . . .