Sunday, July 31, 2011
Senate Tables Boehner Bill
Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/senate-tables-boehner-bill/
Advice From A Male Porn Star
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/hjCouk2OzUM/advice-from-a-male-porn-star.html
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Today in Congress
The House spent the better part of yesterday working through amendments to the Interior appropriations bill. Then, it spent the worst part of the day blowing the scheduled vote on the Boehner version of the debt ceiling bill that the Senate said they're going to reject. The vote never happened. The House leadership never got a clear enough picture of what the outcome would be, and they pulled the bill for the day.
The Senate, which spent the day standing by for the House to send them the Boehner bill, instead could only dispense with noncontroversial business (by unanimous consent), and then sit and wait some more.
Looking ahead to today:
The House still has a pile of work to do in finishing up postponed votes on suspension bills. And then, of course, there's also that whole debt ceiling thing that they neglected to take care of yesterday. The fact that the House will recess after the day's "one minute" speeches means they're still trying to round up votes. That will involve an emergency meeting of the rules committee, to throw together a new rule that: 1) deems as adopted a new manager's amendment, with text tweaked to win over a few more votes, and; 2) a waiver of the rule that prohibits same-day consideration of... this rule. Hey, presto! Remember when that used to be tyranny?
Why they're not using that time to take care of postponed suspensions votes, I don't really know. I guess they must need another Republican Conference meeting, at which they'll doubtless play another motivational video. The Muppet Show? Rebecca Black's "Friday"? The smash hit Twitter sensation, #BoehnerWars?
But that's pretty much all they've got to go with. They could do some more appropriations amendment if they need busy work. But basically, we should expect them to stay in DC until they pass something. And that means in both houses. Though I wouldn't put it past them to pass their bill and then skip town, in the hopes that the Senate would be so flummoxed that they'd accept the House bill just to get things finished so everyone can go on vacation. Sounds dumb, but so does blowing the vote yesterday.
And the Senate will just sit there and wait for their turn. It's expected that they'll table the Boehner bill, if it ever gets sent to them. And then they'll turn to whatever compromise they've been cooking up and see if they can send it to the House over the weekend.
Today's floor and committee schedules appear below the fold.
Looks like no one expected to still be around long enough to have committee meetings on Friday. I doubt they'll schedule any, either.
Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/aPANOAtzgC8/-Today-in-Congress
The Sound Of A Neocon Panicking
Yglesias Award Nominee
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/3KgSnIOZY8g/yglesi-1.html
Friday, July 29, 2011
Quote For The Day
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/jIi9r053my4/quote-6.html
BLITZER'S BLOG: Obama's chief of staff is confident there will be a deal
Thursday, July 28, 2011
TRENDING: GOP use of Ben Affleck movie clip riles Dems
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/27/gop-use-of-ben-affleck-movie-clip-riles-dems/
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Pledge writers pressure lawmakers to toe line in debt crisis
Time To Make A Deal, Any Deal
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/oor48E5lUHQ/time-to-make-a-deal-any-deal.html
Republicans still hoping to block Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal
Congress repealed it, judges ruled against it, the Pentagon is ready for it to be gone, President Obama has certified the repeal, and Republicans are still trying to delay the final death of Don't Ask Don't Tell beyond its currently-scheduled September expiration date.
Think Progress rounds up the kicking and screaming:
? REP. BUCK MCKEON (R-CA): "The President?s certification culminates a flawed repeal assessment and adoption process and as such the House Armed Services Committee will continue to conduct vigorous oversight," Rep. McKeon said. "To aid this effort, I am calling on the administration to immediately release to Congress each of the assessments performed by the services on the impact of repeal on their forces and all the regulations and policy documents that demonstrate the questions about implementation have been resolved." [WSJ, 7/22/2011]? REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA): "It?s a decision that stems from a campaign promise, not strategic thinking," Hunter spokesperson Joe Kasper said. "There?s 60 days from the point of certification, so there?s still time to evaluate concerns with the change and do whatever is possible to ensure the highest level of efficiency. Mr. Hunter and others will keep a close eye on things to determine what, if any, options exist going forward.: [NC Times, 7/22/2011]
? ALLIANCE DEFENSE FUND: "The reports of the chiefs of the services and combat commanders that supposedly justify this move should be released in full, allowing service members, the public, and Congress to evaluate the situation themselves. This administration cannot expect America to accept its 'certification' at face value." [Christian Post, 7/23/2011]
Once again we see how quickly Republican "do whatever the military says" rhetoric turns to doubt the second the military says something Republicans don't like. Their dedication to standing in the way of progress, though, is unabated.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
House phones near capacity
Source: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/house-phones-near-capacity/
Malkin Award Nominee
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/piDr5DlzzJU/malkin-award-nominee-4.html
Monday, July 25, 2011
Does Language Make Us More Empathetic?
News Websites Mostly Lean Right Or Left
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetTechnologyRss/~3/vAsbeqhbOr4/Article.aspx
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Huntsman campaign manager Susie Wiles resigns
Updated at 1:59 p.m.
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman?s (R) presidential campaign manager, Susie Wiles, is resigning and will be replaced by communications director Matt David, according to the campaign.
Huntsman is announcing the changes to his staff at a meeting this afternoon. Top adviser John Weaver confirmed the changes to The Fix.
Read full article >>
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=494a96d8b87fb6b0b5a0fcbb75af56b3
Open thread for night owls: House committee votes to reinstate global 'gag' rule on abortion
At RH Reality Check, Jodi Jacobson writes, House Committee Votes to Reinstate Global Gag Rule and Other Misogynistic Amendments:
A central motto of today's GOP and Tea Parties appears to be: Never let evidence get in the way of efforts to pass a law undermining women's access to healthcare.An addendum to this motto appears to be: Never let an opportunity pass to deny funding to or politicize services providing care to the poorest and least-enfranchised women in the world, most particularly those who suffer high rates of maternal death due to lack of access to family planning services and high rates of complications of pregnancy and unsafe abortion.
In keeping with this, just weeks after publication of a major report underscoring the benefits of robust U.S. investment in family planning worldwide, the GOP-controlled House Foreign Affairs Committee voted in the early hours of the morning today to reinstate the Global Gag Rule (GGR) as part of the draft Fiscal Year 2012 State Department Authorizations Act, except this time with broader and more damaging implications than ever before.
Some 215 million women worldwide have an "unmet need" for family planning, meaning that they want to either space or limit births but do not have access or lack consistent access to reliable methods of birth control that fit their personal needs. Women with unmet need make up 82 percent of the estimated 75 million unintended pregnancies that occur each year. The remaining 18 percent are due to inconsistent method use or method failure.
Providing all women with basic family planning services, is first and foremost a matter of basic human rights and bodily integrity. But it is a smart investment for many other reasons. ...
At Daily Kos on this date in 2006:
You are doing an admirable thing for Senator Lieberman, Mr. President, and I applaud you for your decision and your commitment to supporting the candidate of your choice in this primary election. And I also applaud you for announcing that you intend to support the winner of the Democratic primary in Connecticut next month.Mr. President, you obviously recognize the importance of keeping this seat in Connecticut in Democratic control. I hope that your commitment will bring you back to Connecticut following the primary and you will continue to work to keep this seat by campaigning again for the Democratic candidate, no matter whom it might be. Know that if the Democratic voters of Connecticut choose Joe Lieberman as their nominee, we as Democrats will follow your lead and support him.
However, in the event that the people of Connecticut choose Ned Lamont as their candidate on August 8, I hope you will use your considerable influence with Senator Lieberman, witnessed by your presence in the state next week, to urge the Senator to change his mind about betraying the Democratic party and the Democratic voters of Connecticut. If Senator Lieberman loses this primary, I hope you will help him make the decision to recognize and accept the will of the Connecticut voters and bow out as graciously as his years of service and the dignity of the Senate seat deserves.
Top Comments can be found here. High Impact Diaries can be found here.
Is Pawlenty Sunk?
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/xbWmCZnkXqw/the-tragedy-of-tim-pawlenty-.html
Saturday, July 23, 2011
FoReIgN PoLicY thEOry
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/_64ZKMfJbyw/foreign-polcy-theory.html
For Democrats, a Door Closes (But Was It Even Open?)
Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/for-democrats-a-door-closes-but-was-it-even-open/
Friday, July 22, 2011
Getting Fit Via Clicks Of A Mouse
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetTechnologyRss/~3/aBS9_wjxdzg/Article.aspx
Getting Fit Via Clicks Of A Mouse
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/InternetTechnologyRss/~3/aBS9_wjxdzg/Article.aspx
Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest: 7/21
Senate:
? FL-Sen: This is awfully thin, but could GOP Rep. Connie Mack be thinking about getting back into the Senate race, now that Mike Haridopolos is out? Actually, Mack was never in in the first place ? he just pulled the plug on a widely-expected run at the last second. But the St. Pete Times notes that Mack was seen "meeting with political strategist Arthur Finkelstein" in DC the other day? and another tea-leaf is his vote against his own party's "Cut, Cap, and Balance" legislation. Mack was one of only nine Republicans to do so, and his stated reasons are clearly from the right. Is he hoping to position himself as a conservative standard-bearer? Why else stick his neck out there like this? (Hat-tip: Zornorph)
? MA-Sen: Here's a cute one for ya: The Koch Industries PAC has now maxed out to Sen. Scott Brown, giving him $10K for his re-election (after giving him $5K before the Jan. 2010 special). Brown may have called this the people's seat... but he didn't say which people.
? MI-Sen: I told you I thought Pete Hoekstra wasn't exactly fearsome. Just a day after he changed his mind and decided to run against Debbie Stabenow, it's looking likely that the Republican ex-congressman will face a serious primary challenge. That challenge comes in the form of Clark Durant, the founder of a company called Cornerstone Schools, which developed a network of Christian private schools in inner-city Detroit. Cameron Joseph of The Hill ads that Durant has a "deep donor network" that he cultivated to launch these schools. (And remember, also, that Hoekstra managed a cruddy 27% second-place finish in the gubernatorial primary last year, plus his fundraising was sucky, too ? just $1.3 million.)
But don't get cocky. After posting a mediocre 41-43 job approval rating in EPIC-MRA's May poll, Stabenow now sinks to 38-51 in their newest survey (PDF). With numbers like these, Stabenow concerns me, even if her opposition is not top-shelf.
Gubernatorial:
? LA-Gov: Lamar Parmentel offers some background on state Sen. Rob Marionneaux, whom we mentioned the other day as a possible Dem challenger to Gov. Bobby Jindal.
? NJ-Gov: PPP also has a gubernatorial half to their Garden State poll (see our Senate writeup here), and they find Chris Christie's approvals predictably slipping, from 48-45 in January to 43-53 now. And though it's a long way away, they also see him trailing several Democrats, while also tying 2009 opponent Jon Corzine and, for kicks, The Boss ? aka Bruce Springsteen, probably the best thing to ever come out of New Jersey.
? OH-Gov, OH SB5: Another day, another bad poll for GOP Gov. John Kasich ? and a good one for opponents of SB5, Ohio's new anti-collective bargaining law. Quinnipiac pegs Kasich's approvals at 35-50, down from 38-49 in mid-May. As for SB5, voters now want to repeal it by a 56-32 spread, up from 54-36.
? WI-Gov: A couple of weeks ago, we mentioned that septuagenarian ex-Rep. David Obey refused to give a straight answer when asked if he'd run for governor in a potential Scott Walker recall. In a new interview with Politico, he's still refusing to rule it out, though Alex Isenstadt says that "Democrats familiar with Obey?s thinking" say he is "mostly interested in filling out the remainder of Walker?s four-year term and would likely forgo a longer stay in office."
House:
? FL-25: State Rep. Luis Garcia really meant it when he said he'd formally announce his run against ethically troubled GOP freshman David Rivera before the end of the summer. The Democrat made his entry into the race official yesterday, and man does he have an awesome nickname: el bombero, the firefighter, thanks to his service as fire chief of Miami Beach.
? IL-10: State Rep. Carol Sente, who said she was thinking about the race last week, said she won't join the Democratic field in the re-drawn 10th CD. Attorney Bob McKenzie is out as well. That leaves just two Dems: Activist Ilya Sheyman and consultant Brad Schneider. Sheyman raised about $108K in Q2, while Schneider pulled in $321K (all in the final month).
? NC-07: Rep. Mike McIntyre says he'll run in the latest iteration of the 7th CD (his current district), even though his home in Robeson County was moved into fellow Dem Larry Kissell's district, and even though the district was made a good bit redder (it's now 58-42 McCain). Meanwhile, Ilario Pantano, McIntyre's 2010 challenger who was already staging a rematch bid, confirms that he, too, will still run in the 7th. Also on the GOP side, state Sen. David Rouzer says he plans to run in the re-drawn district. Rouzer previously worked for Sens. Jesse Helms and Liddy Dole, and also served in the Bush administration.
? NV-0?: As expected, Dem ex-Rep. Dina Titus officially launched her comeback bid on Tuesday, but of course we still don't know exactly where she'll run. By my count, that makes her the sixth Democrat who lost in 2010 to do so. The others: Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ-01), Alan Grayson (FL-26, formerly held FL-08), Bill Foster (IL-11, formerly held IL-14), Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01), and Ciro Rodriguez (TX-23).
? RI-01: This doesn't sound too good: Aaron Swartz, the co-founded of a PAC called Demand Progress, was just arrested for allegedly hacking into a subscription-only database of academic articles called JSTOR and downloading four million articles (nearly the entire catalog). Why am I writing about this here at Daily Kos Elections? Because Demand Progress's other founder is ex-state Rep. David Segal, a candidate for last year's RI-01 open seat Democratic primary who is weighing a second run for the seat (now held by Dem Rep. David Cicilline). Segal appears to be defending Swartz (who had access to JSTOR through his academic affiliations), saying the arrest ?makes no sense,? and is equivalent to ?trying to put someone in jail for allegedly checking too many books out of the library.?
Other Races:
? Special Elections: A recap of Tuesday night's special elections in Georgia, from Johnny Longtorso:
? SD-26 will go to a runoff between Democrats Miriam Paris and David Lucas. Paris came in first with 45%, Lucas with 39%. Republican Bobby Gale was a distant third, with 16%.? HD-113 was, as expected, a Republican victory: Charles Williams defeated Democrat Dan Matthews by a 62-38 margin.
? HD-139 was a D-on-D fight, and James Beverly was the victor, winning 65-35 over Anissa Jones.
Grab Bag:
? Votes: Speaking of that "Cut, Cap and Balance" vote (see FL-Sen item above), five usual-suspect Democrats voted in favor: Dan Boren, Jim Matheson, Mike McIntyre, Heath Shuler, and Jim Cooper. I guess Cooper's a little less expected, but he's a flaming d-bag on so many things.
The GOP nays are a little harder to figure: Michele Bachmann, Paul Broun, Quico Canseco, Scott DesJarlais, Morgan Griffith, Walter Jones, Ron Paul, Dana Rohrabacher, and the aforementioned Connie Mack. I suspect most of these are straight up votes against from the right, though Jones and Paul are definitely members of the weirdo caucus. Not sure what Quico is thinking; he's the one guy on this list in a genuinely vulnerable district, but his statement sounds just like Mack's ? i.e., also opposing the bill from the right.
Redistricting Roundup:
? NC Redistricting: I guess the North Carolina GOP is trying to sow dissension among Democratic ranks, because they're "blaming" the new map on Dem Rep. G.K. Butterfield, who they say insisted that five Section 5-covered counties be returned to his district. That, they claim, forced all the other changes, like screwing Mike McIntyre even harder. Butterfield hotly denies this, but all of these Republican protest are nonsense, of course ? it's like the redistricting equivalent of taunting your kid brother with "Why are you hitting yourself?"
? WI Redistricting: Well, there you have it, folks. The state Assembly passed the Republican-drafted legislative and congressional plans almost strictly along party lines yesterday, with all Democrats voting against both sets of maps. The state Senate did the same thing a day earlier Now it all goes to Gov. Scott Walker for his signature.
Source: http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/WWAhuho9ubU/-Daily-Kos-Elections-Morning-Digest:-7-21
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Famine Strikes
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/andrewsullivan/rApM/~3/vl3fVou0rtY/official-famine-in-somalia.html
O'Keefe's Medicaid 'sting' attacks public workers for following the law
TPM's Ryan Reilly sums up James O'Keefe's latest smear job, this time on Medicaid offices and public employees in South Carolina.
A man goes into a public assistance office in Charleston, South Carolina in a kilt, tells them he's a member of the Irish Republican Army and asks for help for 25 fellow Irishmen in a hospital who need Medicaid.A government employee follows the rules and explains the process for filling out a Medicaid paperwork and the qualifications they'd need to meet. She informs them that a federal law intended to protect patient privacy requires her not to divulge any information he's told her.
So what happens next? James O'Keefe's Project Veritas releases a deceptively edited video that makes the woman look like a terrorist sympathizer, though it isn't even clear if she knows the background of the IRA.
More than a little pathetic. But not necessarily ineffective, at least in states where there's a Republican executive. Consider Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich has gone after Medicaid with almost the same zeal he's gone after public employees. Here he has the excuse to do both.
The result of O'Keefe's cut and paste video job in Ohio counties is mandatory retraining for county social workers and an investigation by the Department of Job and Family Services.
Because the county employees did their jobs, explained the rules and the process, and helped with applications. Which were not approved.
There wasn't fraud here. Unless it's in O'Keefe's attempt to provide Republican policymakers with more ammunition for attacking public employees and the Medicaid program.
