Tag: senate

Yippee !  Wall Street is saved !

Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D OH)  amendment 3733 on the Financial Stability Act bill, to break up the Big 6 Banks into smaller ones that couldn’t take down the entire nation’s economy if they failed, itself did not pass the vote in the Senate this evening, failing by a spectacular 61 noes to 33 yeas, with 6 senators too timid to approach the subject.

http://www.senate.gov/legislat…

Not all bought and paid for yet:

YEAs — 33 votes

Begich (D-AK)

Bingaman (D-NM)

Boxer (D-CA)

Brown (D-OH)

Burris (D-IL)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Cardin (D-MD)

Casey (D-PA)

Coburn (R-OK)***** Republican

Dorgan (D-ND)

Durbin (D-IL)

Ensign (R-NV)

Feingold (D-WI)

Franken (D-MN)

Harkin (D-IA)

Kaufman (D-DE)

Leahy (D-VT)

Levin (D-MI)

Lincoln (D-AR)

Merkley (D-OR)

Mikulski (D-MD)

Murray (D-WA)

Pryor (D-AR)

Reid (D-NV)

Rockefeller (D-WV)

Sanders (I-VT)

Shelby (R-AL)*****   Republican

Specter (D-PA)*****  ex Republican

Stabenow (D-MI)

Udall (D-NM)

Webb (D-VA)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Wyden (D-OR)

_______________________ end of people who don’t like Great Depressions and financial chaos

___________   Begin list of Senators who liked that Citizens United Ruling by the Supreme Court:

NAYs — 61

Akaka (D-HI)

Alexander (R-TN)

Barrasso (R-WY)

Baucus (D-MT)  a small, cold, scenic state of tiny population,  which votes with Utah.  wtf.

Bayh (D-IN)  does you wife get more insura/pharma stock options for this ?

Bennet (D-CO)

Bond (R-MO)

Brown (R-MA)

Brownback (R-KS)

Burr (R-NC)

Carper (D-DE)   meh. typical.

Chambliss (R-GA)

Cochran (R-MS)

Collins (R-ME)

Conrad (D-ND)

Corker (R-TN)

Cornyn (R-TX)

Crapo (R-ID)

Dodd (D-CT)  looking for that Golden Parachute……

Enzi (R-WY)

Feinstein (D-CA)  meh.

Gillibrand (D-NY)  really, Kirsten, how could you

Graham (R-SC)

Grassley (R-IA)

Gregg (R-NH)

Hagan (D-NC)

Hatch (R-UT)

Hutchison (R-TX)

Inhofe (R-OK)

Inouye (D-HI)

Isakson (R-GA)

Johanns (R-NE)

Johnson (D-SD)

Kerry (D-MA) meh. first no public option, an excise tax, and now this.   you still suck.

Klobuchar (D-MN)

Kohl (D-WI)

Kyl (R-AZ)

Landrieu (D-LA)  say, how’s the Gulf doing, Ms. Mary of Louisiana?

Lautenberg (D-NJ)

LeMieux (R-FL)

Lieberman (ID-CT)  suing Atty General Holder over the tragic Ft Hood shooting information release, too

McCain (R-AZ)

McCaskill (D-MO) midwestern Blew Dawg who thinks she’s a hot shot financial whiz.  ya huh. not.

McConnell (R-KY)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Murkowski (R-AK)

Nelson (D-FL)

Nelson (D-NE)  at least he’s consistently not on our side

Reed (D-RI)

Risch (R-ID)

Roberts (R-KS)

Schumer (D-NY)  wants to be next Majority Leader after making us all get biometric cards. Swell.

Sessions (R-AL)

Shaheen (D-NH)

Snowe (R-ME)

Tester (D-MT)  meh. These netroots Dems.

Thune (R-SD)

Udall (D-CO)

Voinovich (R-OH)

Warner (D-VA)

Wicker (R-MS)

__________________   chickenhearts

Not Voting – 6  

Bennett (R-UT)

Bunning (R-KY)

Byrd (D-WV)  okay, you’re old and frail.  pass. barely.

DeMint (R-SC)

Lugar (R-IN)

Vitter (R-LA)  you don’t have enough diapers to clean anything up

President Obama is going to make 15 recess appointments during Easter break, but one name is still missing:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-…

Dawn E. Johnsen, the current nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel in the United States Dept. of Justice.

While President – elect, Obama said he intended to nominate Johnson, currently a law professor and a former ACLU attorney, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General from ’93 to ’96 under President Clinton, and former Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Council from ’97 to ’98.

David Dayen at Lake du Fire Dogs has been watching the Senate vote on the Reconciliation side car “fix” to the Health Insurance Bailout bill this morning.

http://news.firedoglake.com/20…

It passed, 56 to 43.  V.P.  Joe Biden was there, indicating that the administration didn’t quite trust the Democratic Senators to behave themselves. Senators Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, and Mark Pryor of Arkansas (OPEC API IPAA, Mellon Scaife, & Koch Oil, Mutual of Omaha, & Walmart, LLC)  voted against the reconciliation bill.  

Surprise ! It has to now go back to the House again for another vote, saith the Parliamentarian      

Remember when there was talk of how the amendment process in the Senate would only need a simple 50 vote majority under the rules of reconciliation, and therefore some Senator could offer an amendment with a Public Option, and there was Sen. Bennett’s (D, CO) letter http://bennet.senate.gov/newsr…        going around with the signatures, and the People in Charge said Absolutely Not, we are taking no amendments on this because we can’t risk the Republicans delaying with their own ?  An everybody got into line?

Surprise !   They were just kidding.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

How about putting it in the year 2011 Budget, Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota ?

“I’d be unwilling to kick up dust on some new matter before we’ve resolved this one,” he told reporters.

A status quo You Can Believe In.

They say over 25 million Americans will be left out of coverage. It’s more.   They’re wrong, there’s 300 million who were planning on the Constitution covering them, and it’s still random, depending on which state you reside in.

But only the Democratic Party could try to get away with it, having drawn such courage from watching the Republicans cheer them on as they continue to thumb their noses at the core constituency who actually voted to put them in office, and had bothered to read the quaint old thing.

_______________

update:

AHIP Already kicking sick kids to the curb

nyceve has posted this story about America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP, think Karen Ignagni the lobbyist) which wrote much of the bill incognito, saying that it intreprets the new law as not requiring insurers to cover all child applicants this year.  They would prefer to wait until 2014.

This bill is being “sold” as finally making insurance available for all children (except non legal residents) this year. Supposedly the Sec of HHS is going to issue a sternly worded clarification, or something.  But insurers can jack up rates in the meantime-

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Dianne Feinstein is doing a Pombo on the Endangered Species Act, with an Amendment to gut it in an upcoming Democratic “Bipartisanship Enhanced” jobs bill.  

Like Salmon ?  Too bad !  McClintock’s in on it, too.

Hey, this even makes the Kansas City Star.  Everything’s up to date in Kansas City.   Dead silence at a certain other “Democratic” blog.

http://www.kansascity.com/400/…      Feinstein plan would loosen Endangered Species Act to pump more water    2/11/2010

Yes, our northern CA based Sen. DiFi thinks Billionaire Business Water Brokers in Kern County of Southern CA Who Donate To Her Campaign Are More Important Than Salmon.  So Does Tom McClintock.  

She intends to put an amendment that says we can ignore the Endangered Species Act, onto the upcoming jobs bill to let more water be pumped out of the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta.   Why does this matter ?  Because at certain times of the year, the nursery fish need the water to swim and feed in.   And the West Coast salmon runs are at the brink of going away. Forever.

{{{  “This came as a bit of a shock that she did this,” said Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.

He represents California’s North Coast, which has been hurt by two years of bans on commercial salmon fishing stemming from collapsing salmon stocks.

“If this were to go through, it would have a devastating impact on Northern California and other jobs and other economies in the state,” Thompson said.  }}}

Where the hell have you been, Blue Dog Rep. Thompson ?   Didn’t you notice the real reason so many people up here in northern CA 04  DIDN’T WANT Carpetbagging Tom MCCLINTOCK of Southern CA pimping for these Southern CAL business sharks to take water out of Norcal and kill off our agriculture and wildlife ?    He’s running the exact same playbook that former Republican Rep. John Doolittle ran with Dick Cheney and the suckerfish up in the Klamoth river drainage.  

Bye, Bayh, Missed American Pie

Took My Donor to the Levee, but the Levee was Dry

Them Good Ol Boys of WellPointe were drinkin’  whiskey and rye

Singing “this’ll be the day that they die

This’ll be the day that they die !”

Did you write the book of gov

And do you have faith in God above

If the Gruber tells you so

Do you believe in Rock n Roll

Can an excise tax save your mortal soul

Can you teach Max Baucus how to dance, real slow ?

Well, I know that you’re in cahoots with him

’cause we saw you dancing in the Finance Cominn

You both kicked off your shoes

Man, we hate those Anthem Blue Cross Blues

There was a lonely teenage sickly buck

with a pink Korman ribbon but no pickup truck

With no insurance she ran out of luck

The day, the patient died

I started singing

Bye, Bayh, Missed American Pie

Drove my donation to the levee

But the legislation was dry

Them Bad Ol Dems were drinkin’ whiskey and rye

And singin,’ “this be the day that it dies

this will be the day that it dies”

Now for 10 years, WE’VE BEEN ON OUR OWN

And profits grow green on a rolling bone

But that’s not how it used to be

When the Candidate sang for the king and queen

In a coat he borrowed from Howard Dean

and in a voice, that came from you and me

Oh, and while the WellPointe CEO was lookin’ down

The Cigna stole his thorny crown

The courtroom was adjourned

No verdict was returned

And while Obama read Sunstein’s book

The Gang of 4 practiced in throwing hooks

And we sang dirges in the dark

The day, the health reform died.

And we were singing

(those of us still alive)

Bye, Bayh, Missed American Pie

Drove my donor to the levee but the water’s too high

Them Bad Ol Dems were making bills for nigh

And singing “This will be the day that it dies

This’ll be the day that it dies”

Helter skelter winter in a summer swelter

The birds & fish flew away without ESA shelter

Eight miles high, and falling fast

The rain fell mercury tainted on the grass

The Feinstein tried for a forward pass

With the Pombo on the sidelines about to cast

Now the half time air was sweet perfume

while Billy Tauzin played a marching tune

We all got up to dance

Oh, but we never got the chance

’cause the Insurance execs tried to take the field

The lobbyists refused to yield

DO YOU RECALL WHAT WAS REVEALED ?

The day, the music died

We started singing

Bye, Bayh, Missed American Pie

Drove Our Constitution to the Levee

But the Levee was Dry

The Supreme Court Boys were drinking Money and Lies

And singin’ “this will be the day that they die

this will be the day that they die.”

Oh, and there we were all in one place

NASA’s been outsourced, no more lost in space

with no time left to start again

So come on, Evan, make yourself nimble, make yourself quick

Call those industry donors, light your candlestick

‘Cause your Senate Seat’s the Devil’s only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage

My hands were clenched in fists of sage

No Creator born of ocean’s shell

Could break that spirit’s spell

As the smoke wafted high into the night

To light cleansing smoke in a clear blue site

I saw Satan frown in stymied might

The day the Donations Died

We are singing

Bye, Bayh, Missed American Pie

Drove my warrior to the levee

And the levees were high

The good old boys are running faster and high

Singin’  this will be the day that I ride

This will be the day that We Ride

I met a girl who sang the blues

And I asked her for some Happy News

She said Evan Bayh quit and turned away

I went down to the sacred bores

Where I’d heard like music years before

But the lobbyists cried the music wouldn’t play

And in the streets, the children screamed

The lovers cried, the poets dreamed

Not a word by Wellpointe spoken

The Insurance Industry might be broken

And the 3 Senators that we admire the most

(and it’s not Collins, Holy Joe, and Olympia- they’re toast)

They caught the last train for the coast

The day, that Bayh went bye

And we are singing

Bye, Bayh, Missed American Pie

Drove our hopes to the levees and heaved a big sigh

Those lobbyist boys, are feeding ’em whiskey and rye

Singing “this will be the day WellPointe dies

This could be the day WellPointe dies.”

__________

http://motherjones.com/kevin-d…

So why did he quit so suddenly? His official statement says he’s frustrated with the Senate because there is “too much partisanship and not enough progress – too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving……

that’s pretty much Marc Ambinder’s take: “He wanted to be POTUS and came to hate the Senate and liberal activists. He wanted no mas.”

Recently we have seen quite a bit of controversy about the filibuster.  Most folks do not even know what that term means, and with good reason.  The rules for it changed, as I recall, in 1975, after damned old Nixon got booted, and, in my opinion, for ill.

However, the politicians, the pundits, and the public do not understand (or, if they do, are misleading folks) about its nature.  The Republicans mostly say that it was the will of the Framers, and that is just not only incorrect, but a lie.  In fairness, the Democrats said the same thing when they were in the minority.  Most of the pundits have it wrong as well.  Please follow and I shall explain what it was, and now is.