Sure, it’s improbable, but — as Charlie Cook points out in my new time.com story out this morning — it’s now mathematically possible. After all, virtually no one predicted the Dems could win back the Senate in February 2006. On the bright side, I bet Russ Feingold breathed a sigh of relief yesterday when Tommy Thompson joined a hedge …
Congress
Illinois Voters Go to the Polls
Illinois today kicks off what will be a long and fascinating primary season. Voters braved snow flurries to head to the polls this morning as balloting began for a number of local and statewide races, including contests for the U.S. Senate and governor’s mansion. The names Obama and Blagojevich may not be on the ticket but there are …
Health Care: Speed Bump In The Senate?
Greg Sargent picks this up:
The GOP Senate leadership has privately settled on a strategy to derail health reform if Dems try to pass the Senate bill with a fix through reconciliation, aides say: Unleash an endless stream of amendments designed to stall for time and to force Dems to take untenable votes.
The aide described the
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CORRECTION: “Volcker Rule” NOT EXACTLY DOA In Senate, Suggests Shelby (R-Ala.)
The post that follows below was based on an report by dealReporter, which has been contested by Sen. Shelby’s office. A spokesman for Shelby, Jonathan Graffeo, sent the following statement: “Sen. Shelby opposes the bank tax proposal. He has not, however, expressed support for or opposition to the Volcker rule proposal. He said the …
Barack Obama Drops New Budget, Prepares For Battles To Come
Another budget drop, another round on the Tilt-A-Whirl of political spin. On CNBC this morning, New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg did not hold back. “I think it was Einstein who said that the definition of insanity was doing the wrong thing over and over again and expecting change,” says Gregg, who almost became Obama’s Commerce …
Congress: Go Ahead And Hate Them. They Are Getting Stuff Done
Norm Ornstein writes today in the Washington Post about the paradox of this extraordinarily unpopular Congress:
…even with the wrench thrown in by Republican Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts, this Democratic Congress is on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society 89th Congress in 1965-66, and
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Hank Paulson Takes Your Questions
Every want to ask the former Treasury secretary what he actually said to Nancy Pelosi when he got down on his knees in front of her at the White House days before TARP passed? Or find out why he let Lehman fail while bailing out Bear Sterns and AIG? And how much did he really protect his alma mater, Goldman Sachs? Find out here by …
Pelosi on Health Care: “We have to get this done.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sounding very determined–and surprisingly upbeat–about the prospects for a comprehensive health care bill in the wake of last week’s Senate election in Massachusetts, which cost the Democrats their 60-vote, fillibuster-proof majority.
“You can always find a way. You can always find a way,” Pelosi …
The Democrats’ Communication Problem
Democrats are still smarting from Scott Brown’s upset victory in Massachusetts last week. Health reform seemed inevitable and then, suddenly, it wasn’t. As Karen pointed out, Democratic lawmakers are still searching for a path forward that might include reconciliation. They may succeed, but certainly not because the American people …
What Will Joe Wilson Do Tonight?
Apparently, behave himself. The congressman made famous for yelling “You lie!” in the middle of President Obama’s health care speech tells AP that we shouldn’t expect a repeat performance during the State of the Union address tonight:
“I am a gentleman. My natural inclination is to be on my best behavior,” he said. “I have the
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Gimmick or No, President Obama Still Has Big Deficit Problems And A Dysfunctional Debate
On February 26, 2009, President Obama declared “A New Era of Responsibility” when he released his 2010 budget. Except it wasn’t.
According to the president’s own bean counters’ calculations, the 2010 Obama budget left the U.S. economy with unsustainable deficits in the out-years, from roughly 2012 to 2019, even before the big boom in …
Don’t Ask For Definite Details About Don’t Tell, The Dance Continues
If only it was all as simple as “Yes,” the word that Robert Gibbs offered last year, in response to a question about whether or not President Obama would end the policy of banning gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. Ever since that one word, the answer White House has grown, into something more like, “Yes, but we need …
Rendell: “Make Them Filibuster”
My favorite cause seems to have picked up a new spokesman: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.
We’ll see if the Little Girls of the United States Senate pay him any more attention than they have me. (In addition to the two links above, you can read more of my earlier arguments on this subject here, and here.)
