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21 Mar 2010 23:13

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U.S.: What comes next for health care before it hits Obama’s desk?

  • The House now tackles reconciliation. Obama’s signature legislation, now headed to his desk, is just one part of the deal. The second part is another bill that takes on the changes to the bill through reconciliation. The House is tackling that now, and that heads to the Senate later this week. But not without a little bit of contention to make things exciting. source

19 Mar 2010 07:59

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Politics: Health care: Has anyone thought about how Bart Stupak feels?

  • People saying they’re going to spit on you and all this. That’s just not fun.
  • Rep. Bart Stupak • Regarding the Senate version of the health care bill that he’s been pushing against due to its language on abortion. The House version, which Stupak had a hand in pushing, has stronger language. Regarding the updated bill, he claimed that he could wrangle 12 representatives to support him, but that’s looking less likely due to the hard work Obama’s putting in to woo these specific voters. Oh, and the fact that it’s almost exactly the same language. source

16 Mar 2010 10:09

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U.S.: Who won’t vote for the Senate bill in the House, anyway?

  • Among the people voting no: Dennis Kucinich. Not socialist enough for you, dude? As of right now, CNN estimates that 200 representatives will vote against the Senate bill for sure, including at least one Democrat who voted for the original bill (Luiz Gutierrez of Illinois). Six Democrats could switch from yes to no if their concerns aren’t allayed, including prior sticking point Bart Stupak (who wants changes on abortion funding). It’s gonna be a photo finish. source

10 Mar 2010 22:14

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U.S.: A major spending bill gets through the Senate’s clogged arteries

  • $138 billion in spending shoved through, slowly source

09 Mar 2010 12:26

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Politics: Jesus, Crist, looks like you’re gonna lose the Florida Senate primary

  • 60% of Florida voters plan to pick Marco Rubio in the Senate GOP primary
  • 32% plan to pick Charlie Crist, the current Florida governor
  • 8% of undecideds not nearly enough for Crist to grab onto source

02 Mar 2010 20:35

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Politics: Here’s a guy who’s upset with Jim Bunning right now. Thanks CNN!

Joe Orr, right, got an e-mail the other night explaining that his unemployment benefits were ending. He says that Jim Bunning needs a “reality check.” source

02 Mar 2010 10:01

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Politics: Harold Ford explains why he isn’t running, blames the party

  • The cruel twist, of course, is that the party bosses who tried to intimidate me so that I wouldn’t even think about running against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who had been appointed to the seat by Gov. David A. Paterson, are the same people responsible for putting Democratic control of the Senate at risk.
  • Harold Ford Jr. • In an editorial explaining why he chose not to run for the New York Senate despite pushing hard to make his move. This quote seems a weeee bit pissed off for some reason. We’re not sure why. But like we said last night, Gawker is responsible for his campaign going nowhere. Because they made it clear that he was both completely incompetent and sounded like a carpetbagger. source
 

01 Mar 2010 23:02

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Politics: The history of political gridlock, Salon.com edition

  • The increasing mismatch between population and power in American government that underlies the present gridlock needs to be addressed by structural reforms.
  • Salon writer Michael Lind • Regarding the social reasons the Republican party is currently strongly obstructionist. Lind compares working-class white voters to social groups of earlier eras – including British Protestants (who feared European immigrants) and Southern planters – that held disproportionate power in Congress and the presidency despite their declining numbers. He also suggests ways they hold that power, and how to get around it that are completely unrealistic (What if New York was five states instead of one?) and some that might be more realistic (What if we get rid of this stupid filibuster?). source

01 Mar 2010 21:40

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Politics: ABC News cameras resort to chasing down Jim Bunning

  • “EXCUSE ME! I HAVE TO GET TO THE FLOOR!” Jim Bunning, the senator and former baseball player, may kinda sorta have a point in his PAY-GO criticism, but this bill is really not the one to be making said point on. And the media is chasing him down looking for droplets of blood they can trail down as a result. Prior to this clip, Bunning flipped off an ABC News producer, which generally isn’t considered proper decorum in the Senate. (On a side note, we’d just like to point out that Fox News reporter Griff Jenkins has done this before.) source

01 Mar 2010 21:08

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Politics: Harold Ford decides not screwing with N.Y. Senate election smart

  • After giving it considerable thought and talking it over with his wife, he reached the conclusion that he would not be running, although he said he would like to remain active in the Democratic Party here.
  • New York Assemblyman Vito Lopez • Regarding Harold Ford’s decision not to take on Kirsten Gillibrand in the New York Senate race. Ford hasn’t exactly made himself a lot of friends when attempting his Senate run, making himself sound like an idiot on multiple occasions, all of which have been covered at length on Gawker. In fact, some might argue that Gawker singlehandedly ruined Ford’s chances by publicizing his stupid moves. Including us. Yeah, we said it. OK, we’ll give Harry some credit too. source