Category: Congress

Lieberman Watch

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The dynamics of the whole thing seem to be interesting. We had Obama’s statement (which I see as correct, he is President elect, and should give the Senate its due) where he said that it was a Senate matter, and now the Clintons are denying that they were making calls supporting Lieberman.

Also, we have reports that Schumer and Durbin Lieberman removed as head of the Homeland Security Committee, and since Schumer raised a lot of money for the incoming Senators, this may be a big factor.

TPM is now confirming that
the full Democratic caucus will vote on his remaining DHS chair, and so this makes Chris Bowers’ whip count interesting reading.

I don’t think that Dems should eject Lieberman from the caucus, but he should not be a chairman, with subpoena power, of anything beyond the knitting committee.

Barack Obama Can Kiss My Shiny Metal Ass

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Only a week after the election and Barack Obama is doing something very stupid, if the reports that Obama told Reid that he wants Lieberman to remain in the Democratic caucus are accurate.

Joe Lieberman has always been a hypocrite and sanctimonious, but now he is on Jihad against the Democratic party for defeating him in the primary in 2006.

I understand the desire to keep him in the caucus, but if he is allowed to keep his chairmanship of the Homeland Security committee, he will use his powers to inflict damage on the Democratic Party generally, and Barack Obama in particular.

President elect Obama, I would suggest that you buy a clue with some of your left over campaign cash.

Election Updates

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Well, the statistics whiz at fivethirtyeight.com notes that with over 80,000 votes to count, and a 3,000 vote margin, the Alaska Senate race still too early to call it.

In fact the number of uncounted votes has grown to 81,000.

Interestingly enough both Stevens and Begich believe this too, because they are both soliciting donations for lawyers.

At this point, there looks to be some sort of official vote tally in a fortnight.

Minnesota is even closer, with things down to a 204 vote margin, and most of the under votes coming from Democratic leaning precincts, so I think that it is even money as to whether Coleman or Franken wins.

An official count should be finished in about a week, and then you have the state mandated recount.

Election Updates

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Just a note on Alaska, the actual balloting appears to be very screwed up, surprising given the fact that they have such a small number of votes to count.

I’m not calling conspiracy, it appears that this is a perennial thing and it happened in 2004 too.

Still, Stevens is clinging to a slim lead.

I’m not sure if I want him to lose, or if I want him to be expelled by the Senate. Which ever hurts him more.

The man has been a cancer on the body politic for decades.

It’s looking worse for Darcy Burner in WA-8. She is down about 5200 votes.

And Coleman/Franken Senate race in Minnesota is still to close to call. What was an 800 vote margin is now a 239 vote margin, and that’s before the recount starts. This is just figuring the official vote count.

Update on Lieberman

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It looks like Reid told him that his committee chairmanship was toast.

Considering the fact that he has slammed the party’s nominee and refused to use his position as head of the Homeland Security committee to pursue legitimate issues against Bush and His Evil Minions&trade, I think that Reid is being too magnanimous.

It goes without saying that Lieberman with investigatory powers will spend his time trying to inflict injury to the Democrats who rejected him in the primary by harassing Obama.

Election Updates

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Democratic stronghold Multnomah County (Portland) is among the last of the counties to finish up, and now it looks like Merkley has defeated Smith for the Oregon Senate, according to the Oregonian analysis.

In Georgia, it looks like there will be a runoff for the senate. It will be a long shot, but Chambliss is a human stain, and it’s the only election, at least until Ted Stevens gets kicked out of the Senate.

In CO-4, Marilyn Musgrave lost to Betsey Markey which hopefully puts an end to the explosions of bigotry that have eminated from Musgrave in her attempts to protect us from “Te Gay”.

In New York, the state Republican party is in the wilderness for at least a decade. They lost the state senate, and in an increasingly Democratic state, this means that they will be unable to Gerrymander themselves into viability as they have over the past two decades.

Please, redistrict now in New York.

In MD-1 it’s still to close to call, with Frank Kratovil ahead of Fred Flintstone the Antedeluvian Andrew Harris by less than 1000 votes, 160,915 to 160,000, with 25,539 absentee ballots returned so far, 11,371 Dem, 10,924 Rep, and 3,244 ind.

But Kratovil does appear to be in the lead, even if he has not locked it up yet.

Burner-Reichert, WA-08, is still too close to call.

In the Minnesota senate, the margin is around 400 votes, which calls for a mandatory runoff, but of course, Coleman is telling Franken that the right thing to do for the country is to give up….What a weasel.

NRCC Cutting off Money to NY House Races

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Not enough money, so want to direct it toward races that they have a chance of winning:

The decision to abandon much of the state came after internal party polls showed Republican candidates in at least three once-promising races falling behind their Democratic opponents, a party official briefed on the internal deliberations said.

As a result, Republican leaders are diverting money to candidates in other races in which party officials believe they have a greater chance of success, the official said.

The decision by national Republicans to focus on a smaller group of races underscores the degree to which the party is on the defensive not only in New York but also in New Jersey, Connecticut and many other states. The national party is short on cash and is being forced into the difficult position of deciding where to continue to fight — and where to effectively surrender — as the election enters the final days of campaigning.

I’d say it was a realization that they were throwing good money after bad, but all Republican money is bad money.

Happy dance!

Harry Reid Says Senate Will Refuse to Seat Stevens

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Let me make it clear, Stevens is an affront to the Senate, and while I find Lieberman to be repellant, they are not an affront to the Senate.

Reid is saying that the Senate will not seat a convicted felon, and I agree. What’s more, I think that he was right to slap down Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who chose personal friendship over his obligation as a Senator to protect that institution:

…

In a bluntly worded release from his office, Reid warned that Stevens would not only face an ethics investigation but also expulsion proceedings regardless of his efforts to appeal the convictions.

…

Reid also rebuffed comments made by Sen. Daniel Inouye (Hawaii), one of the chamber’s senior Democrats who had previously endorsed Stevens, and who has reaffirmed that sentiment since his conviction last month.

In a statement released by the Stevens campaign, Inouye argues that his longtime friend will be seated as a Member of the Senate next year if re-elected and that he believes the felony convictions will be overturned.

(emphasis mine)

In the House, they would simply refuse to seat him, but I’m not certain of the finer points of the procedures in the Senate.

Good for Reid, and very bad for Inouye, of whom I have fond memories (I was 11 years old) of from the Senate Watergate hearings.

Happy Dance!!! Lieberman Likely to Get Dumped!!!

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It looks like Lieberman will lose his position as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. (See alsohere)

Basically, between his unwillingness to do his job on his committee, he dismissed an investigation into the failures of Katrina as, “Water under the bridge,” and his pimping for John McCain, this should come as no surprise.

Additionally, it’s clear that Lieberman’s goal, should he retain the committee chairmanship, would be to generate the greatest possible discomfort for Democrats possible, because he is a vindictive SOB.

It appears that they don’t intend to throw him out of the caucus, yet, but it certainly sounds like he would be personae non grata in the caucus meetings.

I’m not sure that he would end up caucusing with the ‘Phants though….It doesn’t allow him to play the sanctimonious bipartisan wise man on Fox.

Shorter Ted Stevens: I’m Insane or a Liar

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In the Senate debates in Alaska, Ted “Hulk Smash” Stevens let this whopper fly:

“I’m not going to step down. I have not been convicted. I have a case pending against me, and probably the worse case of prosecutorial … misconduct by the prosecutors that is known,” Stevens said.

Yes, you have been convicted.

You may expect a reversal on appeal, but you were convicted.

C=MI*

*Conservatism = Mental Illness

Delusional DoD Plans to Sandbag Next Pres, Barney Frank Fires Back

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Well, it looks like the DoD is ready for their next war, this one against the American tax payer:

As President George W. Bush prepares to leave office in three months, his budget writers at the Pentagon are planning to dump a giant budget increase on the team that replaces them.

Bradley Berkson, the Pentagon’s director of program analysis and evaluation, confirmed that defense budget officials are preparing spending plans for the next six years that add about $60 billion a year to the “base” military budget.

That would push the planned 2010 “base” defense budget to $587 billion, up from the previously proposed $527 billion. It would add $360 billion to Pentagon spending over six years.

In addition to the base budget for 2010, the Defense Department will need “supplemental” funding to keep fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Berkson said during an interview on the television show “This Week in Defense News.” The interview is slated to air on Oct. 22

….

I guess that this is because with the US responsible for over hall of the world’s defense spending, they need more money.

Here is the money quote:

By adding $60 billion a year to the long-range defense spending plan, the outgoing administration could put pressure on the new administration to boost military spending that was scheduled to level off after a decade of substantial increases. Any defense spending proposal that is lower than Bush’s 11th-hour bulked-up budget could be assailed as a defense spending cut.

This at a time when we are spending more on defense as a percentage of GDP than at any time since the end of WWII. More than Korea, more than Viet Nam, and more than during the invasion of Grenada.

Luckily, the tax payers have Dem. Barney Frank on thier side, and he’s proposing a 25% cut in military spending, which would be a good start.

We need boots on the ground, and M4/M16s. We don’t need the JSF, DDG-1000, EFV, FCS, etc.

I would also add that there are currently 5 enlisted men per 1 officer….For most of the existence of the military, it has been 10:1. It is a good place to save money, though some of that should go back into retaining the senior NCO corps who are leaving in droves.