Reid Getting Tough With GOP

Wow, who knew Reid could get tough. One of the biggest gripes with Reid is his unwillingness to challenge the GOP. It has been so bad sometimes, people have wondered if it would be better if Reid lost his reelection bid. I, myself, have thought similar things.

But when it comes to Wall Street Reform, Reid draws the line:

"fter quarterbacking health care reform through its tricky final moments in the Senate, Reid put the GOP on the spot yesterday, forcing them to filibuster a broadly popular Wall Street reform bill, and promises to do so over and over again."

Reid did just that. He made the GOP filibuster three times in a row. Which is extremely rare for the Senate leader. Who knows where it goes but I think he's been more combative because of his tight reelection bid. I hope he's remembering all of this so that, if he does get reelected, he'll know what people want from their senator.

Reid Growing A Pair

Look at Reid getting all badass.

"As I told the Republican leader last week, If you want to vote against health care and health insurance reform, that's your privilege to do so, but don't shut down the Senate. Stand up and vote. Don't threaten to stand in the way next time, just because you didn't get your way the last time. And when you make political calculations, don't forget the American people,"

Wow, I would love to see more of this.

Possibilities Around The Filibuster

TPM has an interesting piece about how to get around the filibuster, which is possible.

The way is for the president of the senate, Biden, to declare that the rules don't work and for the majority to put aside all rules and everything gets passed by majority vote. This has been referred to as the "Nuclear Option"

Can they do this? Yes, will the do it? No

"If the Dems really wanted to, they could go through this process anytime they wanted.The problem is political."

McCain Gets Angrier

With McCain's aspirations of being president dead in the water, he has decided to just get angrier about his situation.

From Politicalwire who got it from NYT:

"If Mr. McCain has had a history of being a happy warrior, that is not the phrase used by many of his friends to describe his demeanor these days. There are few glimpses of the winks, wry smiles and one-liners that were once an integral part of his character. More typically, his remarks are tinged with sarcasm or anger, delivered with a wave of the arm or both hands chopping through the air..."

Sad to see it but with a primary challenge coming in a party which is extremely more conservative, this maverick has a hell of a fight ahead of him.

Lieberman Is A Horrible Person

With a good chance that a dem health care bill could get passed with a new agreement has been, Lieberman pokes up his ugly head saying he will filibuster the compromise. This has thrown the dem party into a frustrated tizzy on how to accommodate this moron.

Now we hear from Politco that the whitehouse has told Reid to make a deal. If I have ever supported the idea of passing a Public Option via reconciliation, this is it! Lieberman is obsessed with whatever petty shit he can get away with. It is time to take everything from him. Committee assignments and whatever else he gets from the dems. Reduce him to chairman of the cloak room.

This man is a sad sorry excuse of a politician.

Republicans Now Want 65 Senate Votes

More crap coming from Repubs. It seems the 60 senators needed to win passage of anything in the senate was just the start. Sen. Bob Nelson (R) wants the final health care bill to have 65 senators for it to be legitimate.

Says Bob "I think anything less than that would challenge its legitimacy."

I remember long ago, longer than some care to remember, when just 51 votes was all that was needed to pass a bill. My have things changed.

New Momentum For Public Option

As noted last week several senators have been putting up a ruckus about having the public option in the final bill. Today, there is a vote going on to add the public option amendments to the Baucus bill. Experts agree it won't get added to the bill in committee but the public option has several other areas where it could be added to a bill.

The senate floor could add the amendment or in bill reconciliation between the house and senate bill. The point being is that the progressives are mounting a huge fight to have a robust public option added to a final bill so that President Obama can sign it into law.

No longer are we hearing about co-ops or a trigger. In the news, we only see the public option. Which is critical to getting it passed. In August, it was put on life support. Now, it might make its way out of the ICU.

From Politico.

"The key now is momentum, and backers are doing everything they can to convey confidence that President Barack Obama will eventually sign a health care bill into law that includes some sort of government coverage to compete with private insurers."

It seems that people are starting to rally around the public option. Thank God.

Sonia Sotomayor Hearings

Check out the C-Span feed.

Today there won't be much. All senators will give a speech. There are 19 senators on the committee so do the math.

Tomorrow will start the questioning. Things to watch for:

1. GOP senators will not go blood. They can't afford appearing too aggressive because the latino vote is huge.

2. Look for tough questions but just poking and prodding on the part of the GOP. They are going to look for weaknesses and try to exploit them but don't expect too much.

3. Expect non answers. Really long non answers.

Franken Is Taking It Over

Via TPM. One day after taking over Coleman's seat, Franken then goes and takes over Coleman's whole office and is quick to put up this new sign.

How sweet it is.

Lieberman Against Public Option

Lieberman really doesn't like his state of Connecticut. Why? Now he's against the public option in Obama's health care reform bill. This man is unbelievable. He lied about his opposition to the wars. Now he's lied about his support for universal health care.

Lieberman In 2006:

"what I'm saying to the people of Connecticut, I can do more for you and your families to get something done to make health care affordable, to get universal health insurance, to make America energy independent, to save your jobs and create new ones. That's what the Democratic Party is all about."

What a disservice to the people of Connecticut. He was elected on promises he has FAILED to keep. What next? He's probably against the energy bill that came out of The House promoting energy independence.

Update: Great video from Dailykos

Crist Annouces Candidacy for Florida Senate

Popular Florida Gov Charlie Crist has announced his intention to run for opening senate seat. The seat became vacant with Repub Mel Martinez noticed his party's future eternal minority status in the senate so he decided to get out. 

This is good news for repubs considering their horrible ability to recruit good candidates for the past 2 election cycles. He's popular and has got money. It is also bad. It opens up the governor just before the next census. 

Crist does not have an easy nomination. He angered the repub conservatives by supporting Obama's stimulus package and they are out to get him. 

I think this is not a good move for Crist. The repub part in washington, especially in the senate, has not reached rock bottom. The national repubs are not a popular bunch right now and especially in the senate. They are seen as obstructionists and the party of "No". He will be subjected to that type of politics where you has to tow the party line.

If he were to stay as governor for another 4 years, he can do a lot more from Florida. He has more control and say over an agenda. In the senate, he will be the Freshman senator with no power or seniority. He loses his independence in DC and will get dragged down as the repubs still squabble over where their party goes. 

Obama's 100 Day Gift

Not seen since 1937, Obama will have control of both house and fillibuster proof majority in the Senate. What an 100 day gift!!

Cornyn Sees 60 Senate Votes for Dems Likely

Some honesty came out of the GOP's rosey-all-the-time machine. Texas Senator John Cornyn, the man responsible for electing repubs to the senate had an honest moment thinks its going to be "real hard" to try and prevent the dems from getting a 60 seat majority. 

From The Hill:

"that's going to be real hard, to be honest with you. Everybody who runs could be the potential tipping point to get Democrats to 60. We've not only got to play defense; we've got to claw our way back in 2010. It'll be a huge challenge."

Let us hope his proficy comes true. 

Schwarzenegger Is Out

Looks like Arnold's falling poll numbers have caught up with him. The unpopularity of the budget meltdown. The unpopularity with repubs because of his policies. The unpopularity with dems because, well, he's a repub. This has all led up to having no real option but to quit. That is what the Sacremento Bee is reporting.  He won't beat Feinstein or Boxer for senate. He won't get reelected as the gobernator. 

Does that mean he's done. No. I remember the ballot initiatives several years ago that crashed and burned and yet he came back to win a second term.

Coleman Going Down The Tubes

With the GOP raising tons of cash to help pay Colemans legal fees (to keep Franken out of the senate), it would seem that Coleman might be able to pull something off but at the end of the day he doesn't need money. He needs votes and he's still behind by some 225+ votes.

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become obvious that Coleman's chances are dwindling. Now, judges are keeping out votes Coleman wants in and adding votes he doesn't want in. 

The point here is: Coleman has no chance. He knows it because he got a new job. And he is only keeping Franken out of the Senate and wasting Minnesota tax payer money with this assinine suit. 

If there ever was a fork that needed to be stuck in someone it is Coleman.

Burris In Hot Water

If you haven't heard yet, Blagovich's appointment, burris, to the senate is in hot water. It seems he lied to the Illinois congress during the impeachment hearings. Burris was asked if he had contact with Blagovich or any other member of Blago's team about the senate seat. Burris said no. It now turns out he did have contact with Blago and even raised money for him.

With their dislike in taking Burris anyway, this gives dems a chance to get rid of him. There are multiple investigations into his dishonesty and even the White House has suggested he leave. 

GOP Loves The Long Franken/Coleman Fight

It seems that the GOP has no intention of letting Franken come in early. While Franken leads by 225 votes, it appears that the GOP doesn't want him there anytime soon. This could be because they don't like him but it also helps out the GOP. From an article in The Hill

"As the long and contentious court case drags on before a three-judge panel in Minnesota, it could be weeks, or even months, before either Franken or Coleman is seated." 

Their obstructionist ways are aided by the fact that the dems need a minimum of 2 repubs to defect on every piece of legislation instead of 1 if Franken were in the senate. You can see this in the stimulus bill. Dems picked off 3 repubs but it came at a fairly big cost (education rebuilding, health care...) 

With the likelyhood that Coleman loses (even he sees the writing on the wall by getting a new job), this lack of a dem senator makes it harder to get to the fillibuster proof majority.

Stimulus Bill Update

The stimulus bill passed yesterday by a 61-38 margin. Now the next step was to take the senate bill and compromise it with the house bill. They are close to done with that. Some stuff is going to be cut but I am baffeled that they are cutting health care and school building updates. Their reasoning is that it's states who are required to do that. INSANE.

The thing is that in reading several sources, the most powerful players in this were the 3 repub senators who voted for it. In all the negotiations, what was definitely left in the bill was what the 3 repubs wanted. 

That is the world we live in right now. Everyone has said if the dems have 60 senators (filibuster proof) then they would become too powerful. By contrast, it is the few who have the power while the majority want to govern. 

If, by 2010, the dems have a 60 proof margin, I would like to see what could really be done to help this country. 

Coleman's Court Victory Throw's Franken's Seate Seat in Doubt

Today, a Minnesota court ruled that another 4800 absontee ballots, initially rejected due to clerical error will be potentially reinstated. Coleman has to argue each one on their validity to be reinstated. This does not bode well for Franken. There are enough ballots there to topple Franken's lead. 

Does it mean Franken or Coleman will win. There is no telling. While I can't stand the thought of Coleman winning, I due agree with putting absontee ballots back into the mix. The ballots were wrongly rejected and I have to be consistant that every vote counts.

On the brighter side, a large chuck of the early voting absontee ballots went for Franken. I am not sure if these are early ballots but I do believe the last time wrongly rejected absontee ballots were reinstated, it definitely put Franken ahead. I hope/pray it continues. 

Daschle Withdrawls Nomination

This seems a bit odd because repubs have said nothing and Obama and other key dems were supporting him. It looks like there are more to his taxes than we see. Because if everything were there he would still be confirmed b/c he is liked in the senate. 

I guess we will have to wait for the other reasons not reported.