Senate

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Where Has Our Favorite Maverick Gone?
  Where Has 
  Our Favorite 
  Maverick Gone? 
Dana Milbank
Feb 6, 2010 8:19 AM CST

Where Has Our Favorite Maverick Gone?

A John McCain fan laments the senator's new 'reflexive opposition'

(Newser) - Narry a whimper when the Supreme Court gutted the campaign finance laws he vowed to fight for "until I draw my last breath." No support for a bipartisan commission on the national debt that he had sponsored. Hectoring an admiral who supports the end of "don't ask,...

GOP Sen. Shelby Blocks 70 Obama Nominations

Extraordinary 'blanket hold' over earmarks for Alabama

(Newser) - Richard Shelby, the GOP senator from Alabama, is holding all of President Obama's pending nominations—at least 70—hostage until a couple of programs benefiting his home state get favorable treatment, Talking Points Memo reports. Shelby has put an extraordinary blanket hold on all the nominations the White House has...

Reid Promises Vote on Jobs Bill Next Week

But so far, not one Republican senator is on board

(Newser) - Harry Reid plans to bring the first of several Democratic bills aimed at creating jobs to the Senate floor on Monday, with the goal of passing the measure by the end of next week. “For Senate Democrats, creating jobs is job number one,” the majority leader said. “...

Scott Brown May Be Sworn In Tomorrow

Senator-elect asks governor to speed up certification

(Newser) - A spokesman for Harry Reid says the Senate will aim to swear in Scott Brown tomorrow afternoon. The development comes after Brown sent a letter to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick today asking that results of the special election be certified immediately. Patrick agreed to have it done by tomorrow morning....

GOP Filibusters Routine Obama Nomination

All 60 Senate Dems needed to confirm Labor Department solicitor general

(Newser) - It took all 60 Senate Democrats yesterday to break a filibuster over the confirmation of a fairly run-of-the-mill mid-level Obama appointee. New York Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith is hardly a liberal radical—she has support from her state’s Chamber of Commerce, and several New York Republicans in the House—...

Senate Doesn't Need Another Messiah
 Senate Doesn't Need 
 Another Messiah 
EUGENE ROBINSON
Feb 2, 2010 1:20 AM CST

Senate Doesn't Need Another Messiah

Scott Brown is part of the problem, writes Eugene Robinson

(Newser) - Victory appears to have gone to Scott Brown's head and that's bad news for Washington, writes Eugene Robinson. The senator—who has already hinted at a 2012 presidential run—is calling himself a Scott Brown Republican and promising to chart his own course, but the last thing the Senate needs...

Bernanke Gets Second Term
 Bernanke Gets Second Term 
Jan 28, 2010 3:20 PM CST

Bernanke Gets Second Term

Senate confirms him to remain in his post as Fed chairman

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke will keep his job as chairman of the Federal Reserve. The Senate today agreed to let him serve a second term by a vote of 70-30, the closest ever margin for a Fed chief nominee. The vote came amid roiling public anger over the economy and stubbornly high...

Obama Will Create His Own Deficit Panel

But it'll be weaker than the one the Senate rejected yesterday

(Newser) - In his State of the Union address tonight, Barack Obama will announce the creation of a panel to devise recommendations for reducing the national debt—a day after a proposal for a similar commission failed in the Senate. But Obama’s version will be established by executive order, and, unlike...

CBO Predicts Hefty Deficit, Jobless Figures

Senate, meanwhile, rejects bipartisan panel on red ink

(Newser) - The CBO issued some bleak news today about the economy and prospects for a quick recovery. The nonpartisan agency predicted a $1.35 trillion budget deficit this year—on par with last year's record of $1.4 trillion—and unemployment averaging 10.1%. The forecast for next year doesn't look...

Gillibrand Is Coakley 2.0

 Gillibrand Is 
 Coakley 2.0 
OPINION
Jan 26, 2010 1:11 PM CST

Gillibrand Is Coakley 2.0

New York's incumbent can't communicate, and that could be her downfall

(Newser) - Kirsten Gillibrand bears a lot of unfortunate similarities to Martha Coakley, and could soon suffer the same fate. Like Coakley, she assumes she’s in for a cakewalk, with the full weight of her party behind her in a mostly-blue state. And like Coakley, she has “dreadful communication skills,...

NY Senate Race Gets Ugly Fast
 NY Senate Race Gets Ugly Fast 
Jan 26, 2010 11:34 AM CST

NY Senate Race Gets Ugly Fast

Incumbent Kirsten Gillibrand, challenger Harold Ford Jr. out for blood

(Newser) - Kirsten Gillibrand isn’t playing nice anymore. The New York Democrat is heeding advisers’ counsel and going for the jugular against Senate primary opponent Harold Ford Jr., who’s been lobbing bombs faster than she can keep up. Until now, Gillibrand’s mostly attacked Ford through proxies, generating little buzz...

Udall Launches New Assault on Filibuster

Proposes law allowing Senate to regularly change rules

(Newser) - New Mexico Democrat Tom Udall has introduced a resolution that could, in the unlikely event that it passes, eliminate the Senate’s dreaded filibuster. Udall’s law doesn’t specifically end the filibuster; rather, it calls for the Senate to change its rules every two years based on a simple...

Beau Biden Decides Against Senate Run
Beau Biden Decides Against Senate Run
Jan 25, 2010 10:16 AM CST

Beau Biden Decides Against Senate Run

Democrats had hoped he'd replace dad in Delaware

(Newser) - In a major blow to Democrats, Beau Biden sent an email to supporters telling them that he won’t be running for his dad’s open Senate seat after all. Instead, he’ll try for another term as Delaware’s Attorney General. Democrats had been counting on him to beat...

Conservative Hayworth Will Challenge McCain

Former congressman quits radio show ahead of formal announcement

(Newser) - Former Arizona Congressman JD Hayworth has stepped down from hosting his conservative radio show in Phoenix to run against John McCain for the Senate. Legally, he wouldn't have been able to host the show and be a candidate. Hayworth didn't formally announce, but he acknowledged "we're moving forward to...

Health Reform Hit Partisan 'Buzz Saw': Obama

President says he won't quit trying 'just because it's hard'

(Newser) - President Obama says his health care overhaul has "run into a bit of a buzz saw" and acknowledges the process is looking ugly. Nonetheless he says he'll keep working to finish sweeping legislation. In comments prepared for a town hall meeting in Ohio today, Obama said, "I am...

Reid: We'll Wait for Brown to Be Seated

He also floats the idea of using budget reconciliation

(Newser) - Harry Reid took any remaining suspense off the table today, making clear that the Senate won't try to rush a health care bill through the chamber before Scott Brown is seated. “We’re going to wait until the new senator arrives until we do anything more on health care,...

Obama Has 48 Hours to Save Health Care Reform

He needs to make a 'clear statement,' quickly

(Newser) - The fate of health care reform is going to be decided in the next 48 hours, and with it the fate of the Democratic party. The only hope now of getting the bill through is for the House to bite the bullet and quickly pass the Senate bill, revising it...

Sorry GOP, Seating Brown Will Have to Wait

Kennedy was sworn in fast, but under different circumstances

(Newser) - Republicans have been crowing that Scott Brown should be seated right away, just like Ted Kennedy was back in 1962, but there are some big differences between then and now. Senators are not supposed to be sworn in until they’re officially certified, TalkingPointsMemo explains. The Senate waived that rule...

Coakley Loss: 6 Ways Dems Will Have to Change
 Coakley Loss: 6 Ways Dems Will Have to Change
OPINION
Jan 20, 2010 11:11 AM CST

Coakley Loss: 6 Ways Dems Will Have to Change

Supermajority is gone, sure, but so is entire Democratic strategy

(Newser) - “While the sun will still come out on Beacon Hill and Capitol Hill” now that Republican Scott Brown has won Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, Ron Elving writes on NPR , “the political globe will have a new tilt.” Here, six things that have changed:
  • The supermajority: That's
...

Foot-Dragging Is Killing the Obama Agenda

Squandering a full year on health care reform doesn't cut it

(Newser) - The Democrats need to be quicker, or they'll be dead, writes Harold Meyerson. "A president with an activist agenda met a Senate all but incapable of action," and the results, Meyerson says, have been deadly. Almost a year spent haggling over health care is killing them at the...

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