For more than a week, I’ve been wondering why Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and that committee’s top Republican Ricahrd Shelby haven’t introduced their managers’ amendment, the final piece that will allow financial regulatory reform to pass the Senate. The bill was scheduled to be finished, after all, at the end of …
Harry Reid
Alter’s New Book
The first draft of history is always going to be controversial, especially when it’s on something as touchy as health care reform – monstrous legislation the full effects of which we will not know for years to come. So it should probably come as no surprise that Jonathan Alter’s take on Barack Obama’s first year in the White …
Winning the Immigration Lottery
Dems are still moving ahead with the legislation but here’s a story from me about why the GOP is unlikely to play this year. There’s actually more risk in the Democratic strategy than I’d previously seen: a lot of folks on both sides are concerned that the draft legislation thus far was released — the compromise that was being …
Morning Must Reads: Contagion
Workers gather oil-soaked algae near Gulfport, Mississippi. (Ben Gruber/Reuters)
–No surprises in Indiana GOP Senate candidate Dan Coats’ or Ohio Dem Senate contender Lee Fisher’s primary victories last night; Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham head to a runoff in North Carolina’s Democratic Senate contest.
–Chris Dodd and …
Harry Reid Runs on Health Care
Jon Ralston gets a hold of three new ads from the Nevada Senator’s re-election campaign:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-tJ4bUZzsY]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngJtaYV_2Bg]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzOIVzzRIYU]
There’s a brief biographical aside in the second one, but for the most part, …
Republicans Cave on Financial Reform, Debate to Begin
I was just about to hit send on a post about how the Dems were rolling out cots for a forced all night session on financial regulatory reform when I got this email from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:
“I appreciate the efforts of Sen. Shelby to work toward a bipartisan solution on an issue that will have an impact on nearly
…
Morning Must Reads: Toward November
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll depicts a fiercely anti-incumbent mood with just 32 percent of respondents saying they would re-elect their representative. The internals have some positive indications for Obama though with job approval and issue-specific approval ticking …
If At First You Don’t Succeed
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this afternoon made a second pass at starting debate on financial reregulation but to no avail: the vote ended exactly as it did yesterday 57-41, mostly along party lines. The scene is starting to feel a bit like Groundhog Day: isn’t doing the same thing repeatedly expecting different results the …
Thank You, Sir, May We Have Another?
The cloture vote to stop a GOP filibuster on the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd’s bill to overhaul just failed in the Senate 57-41. The vote took nearly an hour as Senators rushed through Washington traffic to make the first vote of the week. All Republicans voted Nay. Republican Senators Bob Bennett of Utah and Kit Bond of …
Financial Reform Chicken
“We’re very close to a deal,” Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee said Wednesday. “We’ll take the next step,” intoned Senator Olympia Snowe, a prime target for aisle-crossing outreach. “Folks on our side of the aisle want a bill,” Bob Corker, a key GOP architect of portions of the Senate bill, …
Morning Must Reads: Ifs, Ands or Buts
Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton
–Obama will make a his case for financial reform “in the shadow of Wall Street” today at Cooper Union. A taste:
I believe in a strong financial sector that helps people to raise capital and get loans and invest their savings. But a free market was never meant to be a free license
…
Fillibusters, Fights, Fundraising: We’re in an Election Season
This morning Washington woke up to reports on how the White House was going to go after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s opposition to the financial reregulation bill. “McConnell’s arguments that the Democrat’s plan for Wall Street reform will perpetuate bailouts is pure fantasy cooked up by Frank Luntz in a right wing focus …
Morning Must Reads: The First Act
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
–If Mitch McConnell raised the curtain on this season of financial reform political theater yesterday, then the White House serves as backdrop for the first act today. Obama is set to meet with Speaker Pelosi, Leader Reid, Senator McConnell, Rep. Boehner and Rep. Hoyer at the White House …