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29 Feb 2012 01:54

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Politics: Is partisanship the problem? Or is our political system the problem?

  • Snowe’s retirement will have many lamenting the endangered moderate and wondering how we can turn back the clock. But we can’t. About that, Snowe is right. Polarization is with us now and will be with us for the foreseeable future. The question is whether we will permit it to paralyze our political system and undermine our country or whether we will accept it and make the necessary accommodations.
  • Ezra Klein • Arguing that the problem with congress isn’t partisanship, or ideological polarization, but rather that the institutions and procedures codified in our political system aren’t well-equipped to handle a polarized congress. Klein’s prime example is the filibuster, which as we’ve seen the past couple of years, is absolutely crippling when the two parties in the Senate don’t agree on anything. “Our system, as any historian will tell you, was built by men who hated parties and anticipated their absence from American politics,” Klein says. “But as the two parties have polarized, we’ve learned that a system built for consensus is not able to properly function amid constant partisan competition.” source

11 Dec 2011 11:03

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Biz: Amazon’s controversial price-check app draws Senator’s ire

  • Amazon’s promotion — paying consumers to visit small businesses and leave empty-handed — is an attack on Main Street businesses that employ workers in our communities. Small businesses are fighting everyday to compete with giant retailers, such as Amazon, and incentivizing consumers to spy on local shops is a bridge too far.
  • Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) • Openly criticizing Amazon’s new price-check app, which allows users to go in stores, scan the barcodes and see if Amazon has lower prices than said shops do — for a discounted price at Amazon. With the location feature turned on, consumers effectively can let Amazon know what their brick-and-mortar competitors are selling something for. What do you all think? Clever or sketchy? Does it empower the consumer or hurt small businesses? source

15 Jul 2010 12:11

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U.S.: Key votes in the Senate’s passage of finance reform

  • 60-38 the initial vote to allow the real vote
  • didThe three more moderate East-coast members of the GOP – Scott Brown, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.
  • didn’tRuss Feingold, that scallion of Wisconsin, felt the bill didn’t go far enough. Oh, and Robert Byrd just died. source
  • » So, what’s next? Well, in a couple of hours, the bill will go through the real vote, at which point it will head to Obama. Then, ta-da! It becomes law.

15 Jul 2010 11:55

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01 Apr 2010 20:27

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Politics: Obama’s still stumping for health care, this time in Maine

  • Every single day since I signed reform into law, there’s another poll or headline that says ‘Nation still divided on health reform! Polls haven’t changed yet!’ Well, yeah. It just happened last week. It’s only been a week!
  • President Barack Obama • Discussing the health care bill in Maine today. The president, whose political legacy rides on the success of the health care bill, got a tweak in at Sen. Olympia Snowe, saying she was a friend “and who spent many hours meeting with me about this bill.” But really, he main target was the media, which he hit with full force. “Can you imagine,” he said, “if some of these reporters were working on a farm, had planted some seeds and came out the next day and looked, ‘Nothing’s happened! There’s no crop! We’re going to starve! Oh no! It’s a disaster!’” Hey, that hurts, man! source

19 Dec 2009 09:54

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U.S.: Ben Nelson’s on board: Health Care’s close to 60 votes, guys.

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  • He must have had a change of heart after being snowed in with Harry Reid. D.C. has a huge snowstorm on its hands right now, but if everyone could leave their homes and go out and stuff, this would be the huge story. Reid worked hard to make the bill something Nelson could support, so now he’s on board. Next up: Working on Olympia Snowe. Hopefully she’s in D.C., ’cause she’ll feel right at home right now. (Update: No, she’s not on board. Did they really rest their hopes on Lieberman?) source

11 Nov 2009 21:38

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Politics: Olympia Snowe could get snowed out by her own party

  • Well of course there is an audience that would love to see Olympia Snowe out of office, within the ranks of social conservatives, that’s for certain.
  • Family Research Council Action PAC president Connie Mackey • Describing social conservatives’ newfound desire to get moderate Maine Senator Olympia Snowe out of office. The group is encouraged by a recent study by Public Policy Polling that showed Snowe would lose 59%-31% to a generic Republican challenger in a primary. For some reason, they think it’s a good idea to make their party more conservative, not less. We just don’t understand it. (hat tip Andrew Sullivan) • source
 

28 Oct 2009 11:24

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13 Oct 2009 19:54

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U.S.: The Senate Finance Committee lets go of the health care hot potato

  • $829 billion the size of the Senate Finance Committee bill source

08 Oct 2009 22:57

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Politics: Olympia Snowe may be alone on health care, but she doesn’t mind

  • I’d rather have company. But it’s a different political world we’re in. . . Most people represent either red states or blue states.
  • Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine • Discussing her status as the lone GOP member of congress willing to stick her neck out to get health care approved. Unlike a lot of Republicans, Snowe doesn’t really have much to lose. She won with 74% of the vote in 2006, and many are supportive of her stance in the state. • source