Senate

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Conservative Tom Coburn: Pelosi Is 'Nice,' Fox 'Biased'

Oklahoma senator tells town hall to not be fooled by TV

(Newser) - Staunchly conservative Republican Senator Tom Coburn displayed a surprising bipartisan spirit at a recent town hall in his home state of Oklahoma, praising Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi and putting down Fox News. He may be “180 degrees in opposition” to Pelosi, Coburn told the crowd, but “she...

GOP's Hutchison Will Stay in Senate

Texas senator reverses pledge to resign early

(Newser) - Kay Bailey Hutchison is staying in the Senate after all. The Texas Republican announced today that she will serve out the remainder of her term through 2013, despite pledges during her failed bid for governor that she would resign early, reports the Dallas Morning News . "My experience will be...

Financial Reform: 'Punks' Take on Plutocrats
 Financial Reform: 
 'Punks' Take on Plutocrats 
PAUL KRUGMAN
Mar 29, 2010 7:00 AM CDT

Financial Reform: 'Punks' Take on Plutocrats

GOP argument against reform is upside-down, writes Paul Krugman

(Newser) - With financial reform on deck, Senate Republicans are busily figuring out how many "can get away with claiming that war is peace and regulating big banks is doing those big banks a favor," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . Alabama's Richard Shelby is portraying efforts to...

Obama Uses Recess Appointments to Thwart GOP

Picks include two for labor board backed by unions

(Newser) - Barack Obama is using the presidential prerogative of recess appointments for the first time to bypass a Republican logjam in the Senate. Obama made 15 such appointments today, complaining that GOP senators were blocking his nominees to score "political points." The picks include two nominees backed by unions...

Maddow Tweaks Scott Brown With Fake, Real Ads

Takes out newspaper ad calling him out

(Newser) - Rachel Maddow really isn’t going to let Scott Brown live down his unfounded claim that Democrats were trying to get her to run for senator against him. Maddow, who’d already poked fun at Brown once for the fundraising e-mail he sent out based on the rumor, did it...

Reid Casts Wrong Vote, Again
 Reid Casts Wrong Vote, Again 
Mar 26, 2010 5:14 AM CDT

Reid Casts Wrong Vote, Again

He voted against reconciliation before correcting himself

(Newser) - Harry Reid is apparently good at lining up votes but not so much at actually casting them. The majority leader set off laughter in the Senate chamber yesterday when he mistakenly voted "no" on the reconciliation bill. He quickly realized his mistake and changed to yes. Reid made the...

Senate Approves Health Care Fixes

Reconciliation measure now goes back to the House

(Newser) - Democrats muscled legislation through the Senate today reshaping parts of the new health care overhaul law, sending it back to the House for what is expected to be final congressional approval this evening. With Joe Biden presiding in case his vote was needed to break a tie, the Senate approved...

GOP Changes Force Health Bill Back to House

Senators uncover budget glitches for another vote

(Newser) - Senate changes in the nation's health reform measure now mean it must go back to the House for another vote, something Democrats had hoped to avoid. Senate Republicans uncovered two "minor provisions" in the measure at odds with budget law, according to a spokesman for majority leader Harry Reid....

GOP Senators Gum Up Hearings With 2PM Rule

They refuse consent to continue, invoking obscure rule

(Newser) - Senate Republicans furious over the passage of health care reform are doing anything they can to keep Democrats from implementing more of Obama's agenda. Their latest move (used by Democrats in the past) is to invoke a little-known rule that requires unanimous consent for Senate hearings to continue past 2pm....

GOP Demands 'No Viagra for Sex Offenders'

Tom Coburn drops slew of amendments to derail health care bill

(Newser) - Suddenly, Republican Tom Coburn has a lot of ideas about health care, and he’s demanding Congress vote on all of them, in a last-ditch attempt to derail the reconciliation bill. Coburn has proposed a slate of hard-to-vote-against amendments; if any of them pass, the bill will have to go...

House Scraps 'Deem and Pass' Procedure

It will hold a standard vote on the Senate bill tomorrow

(Newser) - "Deem and pass" is heading back into legislative obscurity. House leaders today decided not to use the controversial procedure on health care reform. Instead, the chamber will hold a standard vote on the Senate health bill and another on a package of amendments, reports the Washington Post . The final...

Senator Franken Is Finally Being Funny Again

He now seems more comfortable cracking jokes

(Newser) - Senate colleagues expecting humor from funnyman and freshman lawmaker Al Franken have gotten just the opposite, though insiders say the Minnesota senator is getting into the groove and loosening up a bit. Since taking office last year, Franken has snapped at administration officials , Joe Lieberman , and Republican legislators. Now, he’...

Not So Fast: Rushing Health Bill Is 'Idiotic'

Rather than deem and pass, let's slow down

(Newser) - Now that Democrats are considering “shoving” health care reform through with deem and pass, it’s time to ask: “Is this sane?” One thing is certain: “Rushing to do the wrong thing is, in a word, idiotic,” writes Kathleen Parker, and it’s high past time...

Senate Passes $18B Jobs Bill
 Senate Passes $18B Jobs Bill 
Mar 17, 2010 1:24 PM CDT

Senate Passes $18B Jobs Bill

Proponents hope measure will create 250K jobs

(Newser) - US companies that hire unemployed workers will get a temporary payroll tax holiday under a bill that easily won final congressional approval today. The 68-29 Senate vote sends the legislation to the White House, where President Obama has promised to sign it into law. Optimistic estimates predict the tax break...

Senators Fight to Keep Sending Pork Home

Upper chamber unlikely to follow House's lead on earmarks

(Newser) - House members may be pushing earmark reform, but many of their Senate colleagues refuse to let go without a fight—in fact, Politico notes, it may be the one issue on which senators from both parties can agree on. Lawmakers from both sides argue that the money would be spent...

Reconciliation Will Make Senate Less Human
 Reconciliation Will Make Senate Less Human
DAVID BROOKS
Mar 16, 2010 4:50 AM CDT

Reconciliation Will Make Senate Less Human

Partisan reconciliation will turn Senate into House, predicts David Brooks

(Newser) - Using reconciliation to push health care through will turn the Senate into a crude, partisan arena much like the House, argues David Brooks. Once a place where alliances were formed between individual lawmakers, the Senate used to reflect the human sympathy seen in one-on-one relationships; a party-line vote will reduce...

Democrats: Health Vote Next Week

Pelosi 'delighted' Obama will be present for 'historic' passage

(Newser) - Democrats got ready for a health care rumble today, with Nancy Pelosi telling her troops to clear their schedules, be ready to stay in session, and expect a vote next week. Pelosi will move to pass the Senate's December bill as soon as Thursday or Friday, and though Politico...

Schumer May Try to Rewrite Filibuster Rules

Hearings could be a sign he wants Harry Reid's job

(Newser) - Chuck Schumer plans to hold a series of Senate Rules Committee hearings to examine possible reforms to the filibuster rules so frustrating Democrats. Schumer, the committee’s chair, hatched the plan with senators Tom Udall and Carl Levin. In the first hearing, Senate historians will testify as to how the...

GOP Hopes Blue Dogs Can Kill Health Bill

Republicans see Democratic split in House as last chance

(Newser) - Republicans’ latest strategy in their war against health care reform: Get the Blue Dogs to kill the bill for them. With the public increasingly weary of congressional gridlock, the Republicans would rather the bill die “without their fingerprints on the body,” writes David Rogers of Politico . They also...

Scott Brown Stumps for John McCain in Arizona

(Newser) - New GOP golden child Scott Brown campaigns in Arizona today for John McCain. With McCain fighting to save his seat, the visit will be the first test of Brown's ability to reel in support on the right. Of course, given Brown's vote in favor of the Democrats' jobs bill, this...

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