Generally positive results in US Senate contests:
- Lautenberg wins in NJ.
- Neanderthal Steve Pearce is up for a drubbing from Tom Udall in NM.
Category: Congress
Dems Set to Cave Again on Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Steny “Mr. Capitulation” Hoyer is saying that House Dems are, “likely to drop a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits” from the Iraq supplemental.
This is both craven and stupid. Make the Republicans, and for that matter the Bush Blue Dogs, vote against the unemployment extension.
Not only is it good policy in an economy in a tailspin, it’s good politics, since the extension is popular.
It passed with 75 votes in the Senate. If Bush vetos it, come back again, and again, and again, and again.
Wimps.
Matthew Yglesias (June 03, 2008) – The Math (Politics)
Matthew Yglesias finds this bit of political chart porn:
Since 1994, Democrats have been under performing their vote totals. The redistricting in 2012 or so needs to be done in a sensible manner, particularly the extremely Gerrymandered “Majority Minority” districts, which have contributed to this problem.
Sen. Robert Byrd, In Hospital
For lethargy and a mild fever. He’s 90, and you have to be careful about such things.
Kennedy Walking Following Surgery
Word is that he will start chemo today.
This is Where His Habit of Missing Contentious Votes Will Bite Him In the Ass
Obama missed the vote on the Kyl-Lieberman amendment, which declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group, and McCain is hammering him on it.
If he had voted against it, I don’t think that it would be a big deal, but he missed the vote, and he has done so on a number of other contentious votes, the MoveOn resolution comes to mind.
If McCain hammers him on the substance, that he opposed the resolution, it shouldn’t be a difficulty, as Obama spokesperson Hari Sevugan response shows, “Instead of recognizing reality, John McCain continues to run on a platform of doubling down on George Bush’s failed policies.”
However, if McCain starts harping on the contentious votes where he did not show up, and makes his attendance an issue, it is a problem, because it strikes at the core message of any presidential candidate, that he will stand up for you.
So far, so good, but I expect this worm to turn shortly.
Bush Dog Going After Lautenberg on Age in NJ Senate Primary
I hope that Lautenberg wins, because Robert Andrews is a real faux Democrat, but it was forseeable that Lautenberg’s age would be an issue on this. He’s 84 years old.
Why the cleared the field for him, leaving only a right wing puke who aggressively lobbied for votes for every Bush war resolution, voted on behalf of big pharma, against unions in trade deals, for “defense contractor sweetheart deals for retiring military officers”, and against rolling back the Bush tax cuts. (see here)
Lautenberg is a bit too old for the Senate, and Andrews is way too evil for the Senate.
Lovely choice for NJ Dems today.
Rasmussen has Lautenberg with a significant lead, but still under 50%, which is worrying.
Kennedy Going in For Surgery
On the radio, so sorry, no link, but Kennedy will undergo brain surgery at Duke medical center, and then get chemo and radiation at Mass General
Kennedy Will Not Be At Senate This Week
It appears that he will be convalescing. I’m not sure what this means in terms of his prognosis.
McCain Staffers Questioned in Rick Renzi Corrupt Land Deal
They have beeninterviewed in connection with the corrupt land swap deal. It appears that the prosecutors have requested documents from McCain, but that he has not yet turned them over.
Larry Craig to Write Book
My guess is that the title will be Zen and the Art of Bathroom Etiquette.
Heh.
Senate Considers Bill to Reign In Contractors
Should go further though….They are a problem throughout the government, not just in Iraq.
Senate Poll Numbers
All are from Rasmussen Reports™.
Election 2008: Kentucky Senate: Lunsford (D) 49% McConnell (R) 44%
This surprises me….I’d love to see Mitch McConnell get bounced, and this is a very bad number for him
Election 2008: Minnesota Senate: Coleman (R) 47% Franken (D) 45%
Franken took a hit over his tax issues, but most undecideds break against the incumbent, so I still think that there is a good chance for a pickup. If there is a debate, I think that Franken will clean Coleman’s clock.
Election 2008: Kansas Senate: Roberts 52% Slattery 40%
I’m stunned that this one is so close. Kansas doesn’t send Democrats to the Senate. Slattery could win this, but he has to get everything right.
I Guess You Can’t Help Anyone Without Stomping on Civil Rights These Days
Case in point, the housing bailout bill that just passed the Senate creates national fingerprint registry:
Buried in the text of the revised legislation, approved by the Senate Banking Committee by a 19-2 vote this week, is a plan to create a new national fingerprint registry. It covers just about everyone involved in the mortgage business, including lenders, “loan originators,” and some real estate agents.
Lovely.
House Dems Looking to Short Circuit the Preemption Doctrine
Over the past few years, an obscure legal concept called the preemption doctrine, has gained increasing currency in the Federal courts.
Basically, the concept is that if a medical product gets FDA approval, that this strips the consumer of any right to sue should it prove defective, even if deliberate wrong doing or a cover-up can be shown (think Viiox).
There has been a big push for this by Bush and His Evil Minions™, because they believe that poor people should not be able to inconvenience large companies.
In fact, the FDA supported consumer lawsuits as a way to help keep medical companies on their toes until 2002.
It now appears that Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is looking at eliminating this argument legislatively. He has started to hold hearings.
Point man for the Republicans is Connecticut’s 2nd most prominent prostitute*, Christopher Shays, who vehemently argued the administration’s position, “juries of laymen shouldn’t be usurping the rigorous decision-making process of federal scientists.”
Seeing as how politically appointed laymen are, “usurping the rigorous decision-making process of federal scientists”, throughout the Bush administration, this seems to me to be awfully weak tea.
In any case, I would expect legislation some time in 2009.
*Number 1 is Joe Lieberman….Come on, get with the program.
The Fall of the House of Bush
That’s the subtext to Congress making changes to Bush’s proposed Latin American drug enforcement plan.
In addition to cutting dollars, some of the money was also conditioned on meeting human rights goals.
I think we are seeing the collapse of political power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
It’s realized that Bush is a lame duck, and one so unpopular that you want to have him campaign for your opponent.
Lieberman Proposes Commodities Restrictions
Joe Lieberman is saying that he is, “considering legislation to place limits on large institutional investors in commodities markets“.
Even if he weren’t a complete asshat, nothing would come of this, because he is from Connecticut, and with New York City being the world’s capital for such activities, and with many of the people who make a living on the trade living in Southern Connecticut, there is no way that he would really press this.
While I believe that one of the problems with any market today is excessive speculative capital in and out flows, Lieberman’s proposal is rather limited, directed at limiting pension funds and closing a few loopholes, and won’t do much good, because there is already an industry full of people who find ways of ignoring such restrictions.
Instead, I suggest a transaction trading tax on financial instruments. It’s easily implemented, hard to avoid, and penalizes those who trade the most.
The Good Guys, and the Veterans Win
The new GI bill passed by a vote of 75-22 in the Senate, and so was attached to Bush’s Iraq war supplemental.
Republicans, including the sick old man running for president, John Sidney McCain III, argued against this, saying that it was “too generous”, and so might lure soldiers out of the military because they would want to go to school and better themselves now.
Note also that McCain couldn’t even be bothered to show up for the damn vote.
They included some other extras too:
The bill also includes money for housing and levees devastated by Hurricane Katrina, heating subsidies for low-income families, the space shuttle program, the Food and Drug Administration, biomedical research, roads and bridges, federal prisons, grants to local police departments, aid to rural schools, suppression of wildfires and preparations for the 2010 census.
The bill would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks nationwide, with an additional 13 weeks for workers in states with high unemployment.
The only thing that surprises me here is the fact that we aren’t already paying for preparations for the 2010 census.
The Bush Blue Dogs in the House are insisting that there be some sort of tax to offset these costs, but I think that they will fold, as this is ready made for the campaign slogan, “Congressman voted not to support our veterans”.
D’Oh!!!!!!!!!
Congress leaves 34 pages out of the farm bill that Bush Vetoed, so they will have to pass it again, have Bush veto it, and then do the override.
Someone should get fired because of this, but no one will be.
House Judiciary Committee Subpoenas Karl Rove
The real question is what to do. Since Mukasey has been adamant about refusing to use the DoJ to enforce congressional subpoenas, the only real alternative is to take the sergeant at arms and have him detain Rove in the cell in the basement of the Capitol.
Won’t happen. Or to quote Nancy Pelosi:
NOT ON THE TABLE! NOT ON THE TABLE!
