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18 Jul 2011 23:38

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Politics: Cantankerous Corker Criticizes Colleagues

  • Basically, most Senators in this body are nothing but two-bit pawns…to lay out the groundwork, if you will, for 2012 election.
  • GOP Senator Bob Corker • Saying what everyone knows but rarely acknowledges: If a presidential election wasn’t lurking around the corner, this whole debt ceiling debate would be playing out much differently. This is really harsh language for a senator, especially when used in reference to his colleagues. Last week, Corker accepted blame, on behalf of the Republican party, for bringing our country to the brink of another economic collapse. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Jul 2011 21:53

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Politics: Republicans Senator: “We’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves”

  • Maybe the debt ceiling was the wrong place to pick a fight, as it related to trying to get our country’s house in order…maybe that was the wrong place to do it.
  • GOP Senator Bob Corker • In a shockingly frank admission that the Republicans overplayed their obstructionist hand. The phrase “pick a fight” implies antagonism for antagonism’s sake which, if one reflects on the Republican party’s behavior over the last three years, would seem an appropriate implication. Another Senate Republican, Lindsey Graham, had a similar confession: “Our problem is we made a big deal about this for three months…we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.” Yes, indeed. These confessions bode well for the prospects of a deal passing the Senate, but the House remains another question entirely. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2011 11:21

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Biz: Senate goes back-and-forth fighting over debit card fees

  • 44¢ the average cost of debit card interchange fees to merchants; this should make you feel guilty every time you go to 7-Eleven, because that cuts into profit margins heavily
  • 12¢ the limit that the Feds plan to impose upon banking companies about this matter; this is a $16 billion/year business, and banking companies are fighting to protect it source
  • » A fight that directly affects small businesses: We’ve been to many small businesses in our day that have gone out of their way to avoid using debit cards, specifically for this reason. We’re with them in this case; really high charges for every purchase, even tiny ones, is straight up greedy. Fortunately, a key senator, Dick Durbin, agrees with us: “Honestly, are we going to stand here and say we can’t protect small businesses across America struggling to survive?” The fight for keeping the fees has bipartisan support; the main guys backing banks in the Senate are Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jon Tester (D-MT). They claim that banks will have to replace the interchange charges with higher fees on consumers. Maybe they should; the benefit to small business as an economic driver makes it worth it.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jul 2010 19:50

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Politics: A “Tea Party caucus”? Many Republicans won’t go THAT far

  • I don’t know about that. I’m not sure I should be participating in this story.
  • Sen. Bob Corker • Responding to the idea of joining a potential Modern Tea Party Caucus in the Senate. Who pitched this idea? None other than Rand Paul, who hasn’t even been elected yet. That said, it’s gaining a little traction – Michele Bachmann, shortly after hearing about Paul’s idea, applied to make a similar caucus for the House. Paul’s optimistic it could happen. “If we get another loud voice in there, like Mike Lee from Utah or Sharron Angle from Nevada,” he says, “there will be a new nucleus” for promoting Tea Party principles. Which is a big “if,” by the way, because they still have to win their elections. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 May 2010 21:20

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Politics: Mean things GOP Senators said about Obama today

  • one Sen. Bob Corker, who feels Obama sabotaged the bipartisan efforts on financial reform: “I told him I thought there was a degree of audacity in him showing up today.”
  • two Sen. Pat Roberts went further about the meeting, suggesting Obama was so “thin-skinned” that he should “take a valium” next time he wants to come visit them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Apr 2010 23:31

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Politics: Deal or no deal, 60th vote for Senate financial reform debate in sight

  • If backdoor haggling goes on too long, Sen. George Voinovich will vote yes to get the ball moving. Many GOP senators might be ready to break ranks to make the financial reform bill happen, according to Voinovich. He says he knows how long it should take for a deal to go through, but if one doesn’t, he’ll play vote number 60. By the way, Senators Richard Shelby and Chris Dodd say they’re close to a deal, but Sen. Bob Corker (who knows the score) says they’re not as close as they say. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Mar 2010 20:54

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Politics: Could financial reform be the GOP’s way out of “just say no?”

  • The bill, currently lacking Republican support, could provide a turning point. Departing Sen. Chris Dodd’s financial reform bill may be a second chance for the GOP. One senator who worked on the bill, Bob Corker, says he felt abandoned by his party when working with Dodd, but Dodd himself thinks the tide might be turning. If the obstructionist policy worked, the Democrat says, “they would go along. But they saw it fail and now they’ve had enough of it and they really want to be involved in crafting things.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Feb 2010 09:44

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Politics: Richard Shelby apparently the antithesis of bipartisanship

  • “We were stuck. I just feel like we weren’t getting anywhere.” Sen. Christopher Dodd has had enough of Sen. Richard Shelby’s crap, apparently. Shelby, a.k.a. the guy who held up 70 of Obama’s appointees to win pork for his state, has been holding up Dodd’s plans for a financial industry reform bill. So, instead, Dodd’s going to work with freshman Sen. Bob Corker, which should make things interesting for the Senate Banking Committee. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Dec 2009 16:31

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U.S.: Senator Bob Corker: OnStar saved my daughter’s car!

  • I was telling the lady who handles that for me in Chattanooga, each month I was saying, ‘I don’t want to pay this, I don’t want to pay this.’ … Certainly it paid off tremendously last night.
  • Sen. Bob Corker • Describing how OnStar helped him get his daughter Julia’s car back after it was jacked from her on the mean streets of D.C. Wednesday night. The Tennessee Republican chose to keep the $18-a-month service, which came in handy when it helped police find the suspects – and the vehicle – at a Taco Bell in Seat Pleasant, Maryland. Dudes, you’re supposed to run for the border, but you’re not supposed to just stop there! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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