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23 Jun 2011 17:13

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U.S.: Eric Cantor, Jon Kyl leave negotiations on debt limit vote

  • Each side came into these talks with certain orders, and as it stands the Democrats continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases. … Given this impasse, I will not be participating in today’s meeting and I believe it is time for the President to speak clearly and resolve the tax issue.
  • Rep. Eric Cantor • Speaking on negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on raising the U.S. debt limit. Cantor, as well as Senator Jon Kyl, have abandoned the negotiations over tax raises the Democrats insist on pairing with the spending cuts the GOP is thirsting for. Speaker Boehner says that talks could continue if tax raises are off the table, which is obvious — if the Democrats abandon what they want out of this deal, it could get done, but that’s more caving than compromise. Cantor says they did find areas of compromise, though: “I believe that we have identified trillions in spending cuts, and to date, we have established a blueprint that could institute the fiscal reforms needed to start getting our fiscal house in order,” he notes. source

16 Jun 2011 17:12

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Politics: New York senate may vote on marriage equality soon

  • New York close to marriage equality: As it stands now, New York could become the 6th state to legalize gay marriage, if they can convince just one more Republican state senator to support it. The problem is that in situations when one legislator’s vote tips the balance, that person might get labeled as having cast “the deciding vote.” The question is what a Republican on the fence fears more: conservative backlash against gay marriage support, or the ire of pro-equality advocate groups (58% of New Yorkers support gay marriage). It’s possible this could get a vote tomorrow — we’ll be following it. source

27 Apr 2011 15:53

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U.S.: Senate GOP’s feet may be held to the fire on Ryan budget

  • [We’ll] see if Republican senators like the Ryan budget as much as their House colleagues did.
  • Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid • Speaking on a conference call to reporters about his plan to force a vote on Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget in the Senate. This is prototypical “hardball” politics, and implies a more aggressive Harry Reid than we’ve typically seen. Basically, the Ryan budget calls for Medicare privatization, an enormously unpopular idea with the American public. Having seen the boisterous reactions GOP House members have weathered since returning to their home districts, Reid now knows he can force the Republican senators either to vote for it and poison their records, or vote against it, abandoning the lockstep unity congressional Republicans showed off so well during the first two years of President Obama’s term. It’s the obvious political move, and a potent one to boot. source

05 Nov 2010 11:52

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Politics: Republicans benefited from Democrats’ inaction on gay rights

  • 31% of gays went GOP, a big increase from 2008 source

27 Mar 2010 04:12

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Politics: Dear Harry Reid: Eyes on the prize, man, eyes on the prize

  • 2 times he voted “no” instead of “yes” on health care 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

04 Jan 2010 08:37

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Politics: Sen. Jim DeMint lets politics get in the way of security

  • obvious The Senate needs to confirm a TSA chief. Obama already has a guy picked out, and has for months. We just had a terror attempt, too.
  • lame Sen. Jim DeMint is holding up Erroll Southers‘ nomination … over his fear of unions. WTF? Who cares? Let it go, man! source
 

24 Dec 2009 09:23

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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.

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