ThinkFast: February 3, 2009
Think Progress — ... Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Eric Holder as the nation’s first African American attorney general by a vote of 75 to 21, “opening a ...

Landrieu: I'm "A Bit in the Doghouse" After Mass Transit Vote
TPM Election Central — ... and mass transit in the background -- just fell two votes short of passage in the Senate. Two Republican appropriators, Sens. Kit Bond (MO) and Arlen Specter (PA), voted in favor, with one Democrat, Mary Landrieu (LA), voting no. ...

Senate Stimulus Amendment Voting Thread
Open Left - Front Page — ... The first amendment, proposed by Senators Patty Murray and Diane Feinstein, was defeated 58-39. That sucks, because it would have added $18 billion in transportation funding to the stimulus. ...

Vitter: GOP Senators are “scared to death” of Obama and his polling numbers
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... several times a day — but it’s unusual to hear them called out this way by one of their own. Here’s the roll on Holder’s confirmation, to which Vitter refers. Maverick voted yes, but is it true that he’s “scared to death” of Obama? If so, why’s his PAC sending me e-mails like this with a link to ...

Senate GOP blocks added infrastructure investment
Political Animal — ... trillion. That amount may be "inconceivable to most people," but Congress still passed it, and the president still signed it. As standards go, this isn't especially reliable. Besides, for a senator like Inhofe, the size isn't really the issue anyway. It's not like he's prepared to support an $885 billion package, but a $925 billion package is just beyond the pale. He and his like-minded colleagues are going to vote against the recovery plan anyway. As for the vote itself, there were 58 senators in support of the infrastructure expansion, including two Republicans (Specter and ...

When Falling Short of 60 Doesn't Mean A Filibuster
TPM Election Central — A reader writes in to note my description of a Senate transportation amendment as falling "two votes short" today, suggesting that it had in fact been filibustered by the GOP. The Republicans certainly did block the amendment, but it wasn't a filibuster -- what occurred was a motion to waive budgetary rules to allow for more new spending that isn't offset by cuts. Such a motion is more of a fiscal box-checking than a political obstruction, though it has the same effect in practice. Sixty votes are needed to waive budgetary rules, the same margin needed to break a filibuster. But If no budgetary motion had been made on the amendment, it likely would have been deemed ...

Gregg reminds us of the Myth of 60
Daily Kos — The first Senate voting on the stimulus package is underway, and it serves as a reminder of how tenuous a 60 seat majority, even if we had one, would really be. It's the Myth of 60 -- that merely holding 60 seats does not mean we have a "filibuster-proof" majority. And I bring that up again in light of some of the excitement that the nomination of Judd Gregg briefly created. The first vote taken on stimulus amendments was a procedural vote to waive the Budget Act with respect to the Murray (D-WA) amendment. The amendment itself sought to add $13 billion in highway funds, $5 billion in transit funds, and $7 billion in water and sewer project funds. But it won't. Because it lost, ...

Murray (D) fattener to Obama-Reid-Pelosi debt bill blocked.
RedState: Conservative News and Community — The final vote on the amendment - which would give 25 billion for supposed infrastructure renovations, while not defunding, say, a $30 million public parking garage in Auburn WA that’s going to benefit private transport providers - got shot down 58-39-02. This was a party-line vote: we picked up Landrieu, they got Bond and Specter, and Kennedy and Gregg sat it out (Kennedy is of course gravely ill these days, and Gregg’s the logical choice to sit out the vote in response). They needed 60. Please note that Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) all voted with the rest of the Republican caucus. This is no ...

Today's Stimulus Adventures Inside The Beltway
DownWithTyranny! — Oklahoma's contribution to the next Great Depression Just about every industrialized country in the world has gone over to the single payer system of health care. And the single payer is the government. Our economy (i.e., our products) is not competitive internationally because our businesses have to pay health care, which raises the unit price of everything we sell. Obama's not ...

Senate Dems Steamroll Buy America Through McCain's Lobbyist-Backed Amendment
Open Left - Front Page — Sen. John McCain's amendment to gut Buy America laws was soundly defeated in the U.S. Senate tonight. Additionally, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) passed an amendment simply restating that the Buy America language does not violate America's trade agreements. Here's Brown's statement: ...

The Four Republican Senators Open to Working With Obama
TPM Election Central — ... , that question seems to have been answered in a Senate vote last night. When Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered an alternative stimulus plan that would replace all government spending in the stimulus with a series of tax cuts, 36 Republican senators voted for it. ...

Not even the basics
Political Animal — ... , that question seems to have been answered in a Senate vote last night. When Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) offered an alternative stimulus plan that would replace all government spending in the stimulus with a series of tax cuts, 36 Republican senators voted for it . To emphasize the point, that means all but four GOPers were perfectly happy with scrapping the core assumption of the president's plan. Here, then, are the four Republican senators whom Obama has the best shot at working with: Susan Collins (ME), George Voinovich (OH), Arlen Specter (PA), and Olympia Snowe (ME). Yes, ...

The Negotiating Partner
Matthew Yglesias — By Brian Beutler Quoting Dave Weigel in full: This amendment to the economic stimulus bill passed by the House and now being considered by the Senate, submitted by conservative icon-in-the-making Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), was breathtakingly bold. The gist, from Sen. DeMint’s Website: o Permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax once and for all; o Permanently keep the capital gains and dividends taxes at 15 percent; o Permanently kill the Death Tax for estates under $5 million, and cut the tax rate to 15 percent for those above; o Permanently extend the $1,000-per-child tax credit; o ...

Another Day, Another Round Of GOP Obstructionism Beaten Back
DownWithTyranny! — Anti-Law and Order Blue Dog Brad Ellsworth, 407-1 Starting at 5:47 PM and stretching 'til almost 8:30 last night-- a chorus line of GOP extremists put on a noisy display of pure old fashioned partisan obstructionism, offering amendment after amendment to lard down the Stimulus Package with the very policies that have wrecked the country's economy over the past decade. The night ...

The 'old' McCain isn't coming back
Political Animal — THE 'OLD' MCCAIN ISN'T COMING BACK.... As much as I'd like to ignore John McCain's "analysis" of the economic stimulus plan, he's not making it easy. For the last couple of weeks, he's been on all the networks, undermining the administration's plan, questioning the president's integrity, and making strange policy arguments. With no obvious Republican leader on the national stage, the media is still turning to the GOP's defeated presidential nominee. I was kind of curious which John McCain we'd see this year, and President Obama invested a fair amount of time during the transition to bring out the old McCain -- the one, for example, who twice rejected Bush's tax cuts as irresponsible. Well, forget it. The ...

Bipartisanship And The Stimulus, Take 2
Political Animal — Bipartisanship And The Stimulus, Take 2 I am, as most of you know, generally in favor of reaching out to one's opponents, trying to understand why they take the positions they do, and seeing whether their reasonable points can be accommodated. And I dislike trying to undercut one's opponents just for the heck of it, when there is no good policy reason to do so. But there are limits. Sometimes your opponents are just not willing to compromise. When this is true, I believe that you should make it clear that you are willing to work with them, but you should not make your own goals hostage to people who refuse to work with you. Moreover, sometimes, your opponents' concerns are not reasonable. It's ...

Bipartisanship And The Stimulus, Take 2
Obsidian Wings — by hilzoy I am, as most of you know, generally in favor of reaching out to one's opponents, trying to understand why they take the positions they do, and seeing whether their reasonable points can be accommodated. And I dislike trying to undercut one's opponents just for the heck of it, when there is no good policy reason to do so. ...

Who’s In Charge Here?
RedState: Conservative News and Community — In the debate over the ’stimulus,’ Barack Obama’s biggest problem is that he has not wanted to take the lead on the legislation. For weeks Congressional Democrats complained that his reluctance to set out his recommended legislation was slowing the process. When all was said and done, he never did reveal ‘his’ bill; he simply communicated his priorities to Congress and let them carry the water. Early on in the process the bill clearly deviated from the guideposts he set out — exceeding his recommended spending level and neglecting tax cuts. All along, he has kept his distance while Congress worked out the messy details. Now it seems Congressional leaders may ...

"Time for Talk Over," White House Tone Changes on Stimulus
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right — As the stimulus bill picture takes a clearer turn toward possible Senate obstruction by Republicans unwilling to divert from the zombie-like mantra of tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts, the White House is showing both impatience and signs of a more targeted approach to selling the bill. ...

Hullabaloo — These People Are Nuts by dday Dave Weigel: This amendment to the economic stimulus bill passed by the House and now being considered by the Senate, submitted by conshttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifervative icon-in-the-making Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), was breathtakingly bold. The , from Sen. DeMint’s Website: o Permanently repeal the alternative minimum tax once and for all; o Permanently keep the capital gains and dividends taxes at 15 percent; o Permanently kill the Death Tax for estates under $5 million, and cut the tax rate to 15 percent for those above; o Permanently extend the $1,000-per-child tax credit; o ...

What Inning is It? Debate Over Stimulus Cuts Inches On
TPM Election Central — White House spokesman Robert Gibbs quipped yesterday that Congress' stimulus debate was in the "bottom of the fifth" inning. So it's looking like a long seventh-inning stretch this evening as Senate centrists continue hashing out a package of cuts to the $900-billion-plus package. Democratic leaders understandably would prefer the focus to be on what's in the package rather than what's in line for cuts. But to use another familiar metaphor, Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have grabbed the wheel of the economic recovery plan with their still-evolving proposal to trim as much as $100 billion from education, mass transit, and other areas. Talking to reporters in ...

Unreal!... Dems Ban Religious Free Speech On College Campuses In Stimulus Bill
Gateway Pundit — ... receiving funds to renovate buildings, from allowing “sectarian instruction” or “religious worship” within the facility. This would in effect bar use of campus buildings for groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Campus Crusade for Christ, Catholic Student Ministries, Hillel, and other religious organizations. This is criminal and Democrats know it. Americans would never go for this crap-- if the media would ever report on it. Here's the roll call on the vote. Doctor Bulldog posted this ...

Friday Morning Open Thread
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — Good morning. So, big day in the Senate. Either they reach a deal today or the Majority Leader invokes cloture, which means a vote to cut off the debate on Sunday. Lots of games being played up there. But, the GOP Senators showed their true intentions on Wednesday night when 36 of them voted for an amendment offered by that right wing nut job from South Carolina, Jim DeMint, to remove ALL spending from the stimulus. No stimulus spending when the economy is collapsing. That's the real GOP plan. And, yet, Obama is supposed to deal with those clowns in good faith? Just not possible. If any media types were actually paying attention, the DeMint vote would tell them all they need to know ...

Politics at its most insipid
Political Animal — ... bill. This cannot stand!" Please remember, every sentence -- literally, every single sentence -- in that paragraph is wrong. Indeed, everything DeMint said was the polar opposite of reality, driven entirely by a reading-comprehension mistake made by someone at Pat Robertson's legal group. So, after DeMint's demonstrably ridiculous speech, the Senate had to vote on whether to strip the bill of the completely innocuous provision that merely re-states current law. Believe it or not, 43 senators ...

Stimulating A War On Republican Religion
DownWithTyranny! — Jim DeMint (R-SC)-- looking for his own Ft Sumter to blow up The ineffective Republican Obstructionist Caucus isn't accomplishing anything except slowing down President Obama's plans to stimulate the economy. They're doing their best to tear him down and they're using every trick in the book to turn voters off to the plan by picking it apart and lying about the pieces. An ...

Pay attention, Karl
Political Animal — PAY ATTENTION, KARL.... Over the last couple of days, President Obama has been critical of those who offer nothing but tax to address "every problem we face." On Fox News, Karl Rove, after defending his old boss' economic record with a straight face, responded, " No one, that I know of, is talking about tax cuts only ...

Cranky McCain is back and mad at Obama
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth — Seriously, who cares what John McCain thinks? The Arizona Republican says the $787 billion measure will create what he calls "generational theft" — huge federal deficits for years to come. McCain, who lost the presidential race to Obama, says the president is backtracking on promises of bipartisanship. McCain is not happy with the process that led to passage of the stimulus bill. He calls it a bad beginning to Obama's presidency. McCain acknowledges that Republicans excluded Democrats when the GOP held power on Capitol Hill. But he says Obama had promised to work differently. McCain offers this advice: "Let's start over now and sit down together."Start ...

Republicans: We Don't Want Reconciliation...Or Cap-and-Trade
TPM Election Central — The floor debates on the budget continue in both chambers today. A couple things we'll be looking out for--Republicans should be offering an amendment at some point that would block reconciliation if it isn't explicitly included in the Senate bill. Right now, reconciliation instructions are only included in the House bill, but they may well be imported to the Senate bill in conference. Meanwhile, Senator John Thune has introduced an amendment that would "prohibit the collection of funds from any future cap and trade proposal if that proposal would increase electricity rates and gasoline prices for American households and businesses. " Neither of these amendments are likely to pass, but ...