Republican Obstruction In The Senate

5:38 pm EST June 27th, 2007 | Republicans | 8 Comments

Petty little men stopping America’s progress.

Some facts:

* Senate Republicans have obstructed almost every bill in the Senate – even ones with wide bipartisan support.

* So far, in the first half of the first session of the 110th Congress, there have been THIRTEEN cloture votes on motions to proceed – each one wasting days of Senate time. (110th Congress, Roll Call Votes #44, 51, 53, 74, 129, 132, 133, 162, 173, 207, 208, 227, and 228)
* In comparison, in the first sessions of the 108th and 109th Congresses combined, there were a total of FOUR cloture votes on motions to proceed.

EIGHT times Republican obstruction tactics slowed critical legislation

* Fulfilling the 9/11 Commission Recommendations (Passed 97-0, Roll Call Vote #53)
* Improving security at our courts ( Passed 93-3, Roll Call Vote #133)
* Water Resources Development Act (Passed 89-7, Roll Call Vote #162)
* A joint resolution to revise U.S. policy in Iraq (Passed 89-9, Roll Call Vote, #74)
* Comprehensive Immigration Reform (Passed 69-23, Roll Call Vote #173)
* Comprehensive Immigration Reform (Passed 64-35, Roll Call Vote #228)
* CLEAN Energy Act ( Passed 91-0, Roll Call Vote #208)
* Funding for the Intelligence Community (Passed 94-3, Roll Call Vote #129)

FOUR times Republicans blocked legislation from being debated

* Senate Republicans blocked raising the minimum wage. (54-43, Roll Call Vote #23)
* Senate Republicans blocked ethics reforms (Rejected 51-46, Roll Call Vote #16)
* Senate Republicans blocked comprehensive immigration reform (Rejected 45-50, Roll Call Vote #206)
* Senate Republicans blocked funding for renewable energy (Rejected 57-36, Roll Call Vote #223)

FOUR times Republicans stopped bills from reaching a vote

* Senate Republicans blocked funding for the intelligence community. ( Rejected 41-40, Roll Call Vote #130)
* Senate Republicans blocked raising the minimum wage. (54-43, Roll Call Vote #23)
* Senate Republicans blocked ethics reforms (Rejected 51-46, Roll Call Vote #16)
* Senate Republicans blocked funding for renewable energy (Rejected 57-36, Roll Call Vote #223)

TWICE Republicans blocked bills from going to conference

* Senate Republicans blocked appointing conferees on the 9/11 Commission Recommendations (6/26/07)
* Senate Republicans blocked appointing conferees on ethics reform ( 6/26/07)

 

Dem Debate

1:14 pm EST June 27th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 13 Comments

I’m planning to be in attendance at this tomorrow.

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Fred Thompson

4:22 am EST June 27th, 2007 | Politics | Comments Off

Who is Fred Thompson?

 

Thank You, George W. Bush

1:31 am EST June 27th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 178 Comments

In 1964 the Goldwater campaign announced the take over of the Republican party by the far-right John Birchers, racists, and conservatives. For better or worse over the next 40+ years they grabbed power like never before and tried their damnedest to turn America to the right.

I think the Bush presidency is going to turn out to be the left’s 1964.

Young Americans are more likely than the general public to favor a
government-run universal health care insurance system, an open-door
policy on immigration and the legalization of gay marriage, according to a New York Times/CBS
News/MTV poll. The poll also found that they are more likely to say the
war in Iraq is heading to a successful conclusion.
More than half of Americans ages 17 to 29 — 54 percent — say they intend to vote for a Democrat for president in 2008. They share with the public at large a negative view of President Bush, who has a 28 percent approval rating with this group, and of the Republican Party. They hold a markedly more positive view of Democrats than they do of Republicans.

Among this age group, Mr. Bush’s job approval rating after the attacks of Sept. 11 was more than 80 percent. Over the course of the next three years, it drifted downward leading into the presidential election of 2004, when 4 of 10 young Americans said they approved how Mr. Bush was handling his job.

At a time when Democrats have made gains after years in which Republicans have dominated Washington, young Americans appear to lean slightly more to the left than the general population: 28 percent described themselves as liberal, compared with 20 percent of the nation at large. And 27 percent called themselves conservative, compared with 32 percent of the general public.

My teens and early twenties were spent under the Clinton presidency, and even with a Republican congress you figured that it would take a whole lot to screw up the country. Whoops. For a considerable amount of Americans, their politically formative years have been the Bush years and they’ve seen just what kind of damage can be done to a nation from one man and his party. To a lot of them they simply cannot understand the sort of experiments that had to be done to your mind in order to vote Republican. I think this will work out well.

Thanks, President Bush.

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How Stupid Is The NFL?

12:48 am EST June 27th, 2007 | News | 5 Comments

By any measure, the NFL is the most successful sports league in America. It has the highest ratings, brings in the most money at the gate, and has a legion of rabid fans like myself that buy all manner of merchandise touting their favorite teams. So how do you let the controversy about the care of your ex-players get so bad you’ve got congressional hearings? Regardless of the merits of the NFL’s case (and there aren’t very many), it’s just creating a PR problem where there doesn’t need to be one.

Most teams around the league make a profit. Right here in the DC metro area the Redskins went 5-11 and will still likely rank in the top 2 for most profitable teams! So just do the right thing and take care of the ex-players. Commissioner Roger Goodell hasn’t been at the top of the league for long, but it doesn’t make much sense to look like a chickenshit right out of the gate by not appearing at this hearing. And Gene Upshaw, the NFLPA head continues to uphold his reputation as a chucklehead who only pipes up when it involves defending a player who has violated the league’s drug policy.

I’ve often disagreed with people who automatically side against the NFL owners with claims of "greed", because the players are very well compensated for their jobs and nobody is forced to attend games, watch them on free tv or subscribe on satellite. But in this case, the league really does come across as a bunch of mean, greedy, S.O.Bs.

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Does Jonah Goldberg Need A Flashlight To See With His Head Firmly Shoved Up His Rear?

10:35 pm EST June 26th, 2007 | News | 22 Comments

In response to a critical assessment of his appearance on MSNBC’s “Tucker”, National Review’s Jonah Goldberg writes:

Ahhh…straight to Hitler. Never mind the fact he Adolf was the 20th century’s most successful demagogue, obsessed with his public image. Dick Cheney just has to be like Hitler.

This is the cover of Jonah Goldberg’s much delayed book:

 

New John Edwards Ad for Iowa

7:16 pm EST June 26th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments

I like where its going (and it features his good speaking style) but it’s kind of abrupt at the end.

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Elizabeth Edwards Outclasses Ann Coulter

6:34 pm EST June 26th, 2007 | Uncategorized | 68 Comments

Mrs. Edwards is the hero of the day. She gave Ann Coulter a real “have you no shame” moment today. The bigger question is why Chris Matthews gives a hatemonger like Coulter free airtime. The supposedly liberal media continues to fail.

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Bill O’Reilly Attacks High Schoolers

3:44 pm EST June 26th, 2007 | News | 6 Comments

Must be pretty cool to use your big cable show to call a high school kid a “pinhead”.

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Massive Failure By The Rightroots

3:38 pm EST June 26th, 2007 | News | 18 Comments

On the left we regularly bitch and moan about the Democrats not listening to the base, and though that has gotten better since the election of Howard Dean, there are still moments of friction. Still, I am amazed by how the right just spits in the face of their base – the combined effort of talk radio, rightie blogs, and more leads to zip.

The Senate voted Tuesday to jump-start a stalled immigration measure to legalize millions of unlawful immigrants.

President Bush said the bill offered a “historic opportunity for Congress to act,” and appeared optimistic about its passage by week’s end.

The pivotal test-vote was 64-35 to revive the divisive legislation. It still faces formidable obstacles in the Senate, including bitter opposition by GOP conservatives and attempts by some waverers in both parties to revise its key elements.

Supporters needed 60 votes to scale procedural hurdles and return to the bill. A similar test-vote earlier this month found just 45 supporters, only seven of them Republicans. This time, 24 Republicans joined 39 Democrats and independent Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, to back moving ahead with the bill. Opposing the move were 25 Republicans, nine Democrats and independent Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont.

The support increased. Increased.

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