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30 Dec 2009 11:27

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Politics: Arlen Specter wins a cookie for this point on bipartisanship

  • Obviously playing politics As you might have noticed, we’ve been hard on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over the last couple of months because of his seemingly obvious attempts to stonewall progress on health care, not offer any real solutions, and really just try to kill Obama dead in in the water. Which is why it’s nice to hear Arlen Specter, who caucused with the GOP at the beginning of 2009 only to switch sides, basically say it.
  • What the Senate needs The Senate needs some reforms, because right now it’s clearly weighted against the majority party too much. The House can get things done with a simple majority; the Senate, however, has all these useless votes and filibusters, and needs a two-thirds majority to even be useful. Arlen’s been on both sides, and he’s been a Senator long enough that his words should be heeded. Good show, man.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

24 Dec 2009 10:07

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U.S.: Tweets a-plenty are coming out over health care today

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Dec 2009 09:36

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Politics: Reaction from the Right – and Left – to Health Care vitriolic

  • This morning, as millions of Americans prepared to gather with their families in celebration of Christmas, President Obama and Harry Reid gathered with their liberal allies in celebration of government.
  • RNC Chairman Michael Steele • Regarding the health care plan’s passage. Man, Mikey, you’re a regular Mitch McConnell, aren’t you? On the other side of the spectrum, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said he preferred the House bill, mainly because, well, they didn’t need to gut everything to get it passed. He made this quip, though: “Not since the passage of Medicare 44 years ago have we seen Republican scare tactics so blatantly contrary to the interests of the American people.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Dec 2009 09:23

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U.S.: Health care passes the Senate, and these jerks can now go home

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Dec 2009 19:03

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U.S.: Health care now certain to pass final vote in the Senate

  • All it needs for final passage is 51 votes tomorrow morning. It was a long road to get here, boys, but it seems we’re reaching an epic point. The Senate passed its final 60-vote hurdle today, leading the way for a simple up-down vote tomorrow on the bill. If Joe Lieberman wants to defect on this specific vote, he can. The GOP still isn’t happy and – duh – will do everything they can to derail the bill after the vote. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Dec 2009 09:33

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Politics: Our biggest Xmas wish: That the health care debate remain civil

  • Sen. Tom Coburn was crazy for suggesting this. Essentially, on the day of the initial Senate late-night vote, Coburn pulled out this giant sign and said that he prayed someone wouldn’t be able to make it for the vote (some have speculated super-old guy Robert Byrd, who shouldn’t be out at 1 in the morning). Which doesn’t seem very Christian of him. And as we’ve said all along, we don’t like the tone of this debate, and when things like this happen, we like it even less. Play fair, guys. This is just wrong.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Dec 2009 08:47

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U.S.: Thanks to health care, the Senate’s sleep schedule is out of whack

  • late-night Early Monday, the Senate did a preliminary vote on the health care bill. Robert Byrd, who’s nearly dead, was forced to stay up.
  • dawn First thing Tuesday, the Senate did a vote to end debate on the bill. *yawn* And there are more votes to come yet. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 Dec 2009 21:19

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U.S.: What’s next for the health care bill? Here’s a quick round-up

  • one It (likely) passes the Senate after a couple more super-tense votes later this week.
  • two The Senate and House take their bills and try to compromise on major details.
  • three The House and Senate vote again, possibly with everyone still on board.
  • four It hits Obama’s desk, and he asks, “What do you call your act?” “The Aristocrats!” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Dec 2009 01:46

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Politics: Health Care: Here’s Sen. Mitch McConnell being snippy again

  • The impact of this vote will long outlive this one frantic, snowy weekend in Washington. This legislation will reshape our nation, and Americans have already issued their verdict – they don’t want it.
  • Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell • Discussing the landmark health care vote. The Kentucky senator is the public face of severe partisanship that’s shaped our political sphere over the last six months. This guy’s in a position of leadership, and it seems like all he can do is come up with new one-liners like this one rather than actually help craft something useful. Maybe, Mitch, if you had spent the last six months helping build a health care bill – or better, helping your party meet the Democrats halfway – you’d have a reasonable voice in this debate. That’s our real problem with the health care bill – it’s never been about finding a unified solution on both sides. It’s always been 100% about finding a way to screw the other guys. It shouldn’t be that way. It’s damaging and becomes less about helping out Americans and more about being on top. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Dec 2009 01:27

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U.S.: Health Care passes its first 60-40 Senate vote. Twitter has more.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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