Republicans are getting nervous, and I mean really nervous. They have painted themselves into a corner by opposing the payroll tax cut and are now even fracturing. The nervousness can be seen by what today’s Wall Street Journal editorial board is saying: The GOP leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for […]
And the rich get an early Christmas present: In what would be a major concession, President Obama and Senate Democrats will drop their insistence that a surtax on millionaires pay for extending the payroll tax cut, a Democratic source tells CNN. This would be part of a new Democratic offer. I don’t really blame the […]
The Defense Reauthorization Bill, which included repealing “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, just fell to yet another GOP filibuster: Senate Republicans on Tuesday blocked legislation that would have repealed the law banning gays from serving openly in the military. The partisan vote was a defeat for Senate Democrats and gay rights advocates, who saw the bill […]
Yesterday it was Kit Bond, today we have Richard Shelby: Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) has put an extraordinary “blanket hold” on at least 70 nominations President Obama has sent to the Senate, according to multiple reports this evening. The hold means no nominations can move forward unless Senate Democrats can secure a 60-member cloture vote […]
Senate Democrats would do well to listen to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell: “My message to those Democrats is don’t be afraid,” Rendell told ABC News. “Listen, you got elected because you wanted to do something to change the quality of people’s lives — here we have a chance to do something historic and if it […]
TPM has obtained a list of new talking points being about the Scott Brown victory being circulated by Democrats: It is mathematically impossible for Democrats to pass legislation on our own. Senate Republicans to come to the table with ideas for improving our nation and not obstructionist tactics. When did Republicans ever say “well we […]
This is a very bad idea: (from TNR) According to a pair of senior Capitol Hill staffers, one from each chamber, House and Senate Democrats are “almost certain” to negotiate informally rather than convene a formal conference committee. Doing so would allow Democrats to avoid a series of procedural steps–not least among them, a series […]
Wingnut mouth piece Confederate Yankee: Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) has seen far better days, and is often little more than a warm body when he is helped into the Senate. Granted, lucidity and coherence is not a priority among Senate Democrats, but Byrd is an embarrassment even for a party that regular drafts the imaginary […]
What a bunch of useless fucking cowards: Senate Democrats emerged from a special caucus meeting Monday night determined to pass a health-care bill by Christmas — but without the Medicare buy-in plan that liberals had sought as an alternative to a government insurance option. The Medicare buy-in was never warmly embraced by moderate Democrats, but […]
This is something that shouldn’t even be an amendment – it should have been in the bill from the get go: Senate Democrats will offer an amendment this weekend to curb the pay of executives at health insurance companies that benefit from federal subsidies, fueling the growing feud with the powerful industry. Sens. Blanche Lincoln […]