Last Thursday, the Senate voted 53 to 47 to defeat the Murkowski resolution that would have undermined the EPA's ability to reduce global warming pollution. The vote provides a useful guide to how senators might act on a climate vote.
Of course, it is not a clear-cut comparison because some people voted against the flawed resolution to make a point about process or simply to support the science. It is significant to note that we have 10 more votes in favor of reducing carbon emissions than we did the last time climate change was discussed on the Senate floor two years ago.
But here is what I find most interesting about last week's vote: the number of Senators who have all publicly exclaimed that global warming is a pressing problem but who voted to block the EPA from dealing with it. Are they sitting on an "election year fence" or are the deep pockets of Big Oil & Coal companies propping up their campaign contribution fences? The question must be asked - Why do these senators benefit from burning caveman fuels?
Warning: This is not a book about a politician. This is not a book about military policy. This is a book about a son, a veteran, a neighbor, a friend who faces his demons, failures and regrets. This is about a person who shows his true courage in repair his shattered life more than any person should endure. This is a book that if you are human will tug at your heartstrings.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid turnd Senator Roland Burris away from the United States Senate today, but he wouldn't have been able to do it without the Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
And why is Harry Reid so determined not to seat Roland Burris when he let former Republican Senator Ted Stevens and Republican Senator Larry Craig remain in the U.S. Senate after they were indicted? Burris hasn't been indicted for anything. Is there one standard for those already in the Senate and another one for those trying to get in the Senate?
Jesse White earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Alabama State College (now Alabama State University) in 1957, where he was a two-sport athlete earning all-conference honors in baseball and basketball.
Secretary of State Jesse White's got himself painted into a corner. Why would he certify Blagojevich's call for special election to fill Emanuel's seat and not certify Blagojevich's U.S. Senate appointment?
This commentor hit the nail on the head:
This has been a bad year for the rule of law. Instead, the chaotic rule of politics has trumped due process completely. Every member of the US Senate knows that Roland Burris has been legally appointed to the Senate and yet Sen. Dick Durbin and Sen. Harry Reid are going through some charade of challenging Burris because of which governor appointed him and what that governor has been accused of.
So why would White certify the election Blagoveich set to fill Rham Emannuel's vacant congressional seat, but not his appointment of Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat? Sounds like a case of selective outrage to me.
(Updated 7:48 PM Alabama Time. - promoted by Redeye)
Seriously, the mainstream media, and the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads think you are stoopid and you are playing right into their hands with the Blagoveich/Burris made for TeeVee Scandal of the Week. Think about it, this is the same MSM and TTPH's that had you believing Saddam Hussien had tons and tons of WMD and were about to use them on us. The same MSM and TTPH's that had you believing there was a link between Saddam Hussien and 911. The same MSM and TTPH's that helped out an under cover CIA agent. We won't talk about Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman, but do you get my drift?
The Democratic leadership's current contingency plan for next week is reportedly for Burris to be met at the chamber by a doorman telling him he's not allowed inside.
Psst! If you do this you will look like former Governor George C. Wallace standing in the school house door of the University of Alabama denying Attorney General nominee Eric Holders sister in law, Vivian Malone entrance. Is that really the image you want to protray to the American people? I don't think so. But that's just me.
Throughout the primary and general elections, Obama lamented “distractions.” Now, he will enter the White House with the mother of all distractions – his incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is a key witness in an ongoing criminal investigation.
The Blago mess may also be a cautionary tale for Obama supporters.
Shortly after Election Day, Jackson Jr. launched a very public campaign to be appointed to Obama’s senate seat. My inbox was clogged with messages from the Jackson camp touting his newspaper endorsements and a poll showing he was the “top choice of Illinois Democrats to succeed Obama.”
Our office has received calls today inquiring about or suggesting that I or a member of my family served as an emissary in Governor Blagojevich’s “pay-to-play” scheme, revealed through wire-taps, to fill the state’s open Senate seat. It is not true. Such speculation is unfair, has no basis in fact, and wrongfully damages reputations. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald warned people to refrain from casting aspersions on those not named in the affidavit.
In the media, speculation can take on a life of its own. Facts about this delicate matter must be uncovered in the courtroom, not the newsroom. Questions pertaining to the affidavit should be directed to the law office of Cochran and Montgomery.
This also points up something about the Obama White House. Why oh why didn't somebody have a couple of come to jesus talks with Governors and state Dem. party wogs to pick replacements immediately. The key is to put asses in the seats on the Democratic side of the aisle. Period. Not this circus over Blago, or the soap opera in NY with JFK's daughter wanting "Uncle Bobby's seat." Lord, Biden had it locked. I want this person, now that person's filling the seat. But Barack's backsliding into the type of games which got folks sick of Democrats in the first place. Who in charge now, Dick Morris?
I don’t know about you, but I’m beginning to find this coy act of Obama kinda offensive.
He is the president-elect. Does he really expect us to believe that he didn’t know way more about the case against Blagojevich before we all found out about it on the news? It was his Senate seat under discussion. It’s natural that he and his team would have expressed opinions to Blagojevich on their preference on who might be appointed to finish Obama’s term as Senator. Furthermore, Obama is about to take over the Department of Justice. You’d better believe that someone who valued their continuing employment would have briefed the president-elect and his advisors on the case well before the feds showed up to arrest the governor of a major state.
"I'd never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield -- it's worse than disgraceful. It's reprehensible."
The chairman of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee predicts U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will be part of the firewall the party wants to build against Democratic control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.
U.S. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., set a minimum on the number of seats the party must control, 41.
"The number that we get to is really, really important in the U.S. Senate," he said. "That's one of the reasons Saxby absolutely must hold his seat."
Democrats now have 49 seats, with two independents who vote with them.
Republicans hold 49 seats now, with 23 up for re-election this year, and five GOP senators retiring, giving away the incumbent advantage.
Democrats only have to defend 12 seats this year.
An eight-seat loss would be a very bad year for any party, even the party holding the White House at the end of a second term, when voters typically hunger for change. So, it's surprising for a party leader to speak in such frank terms about major losses.
It's kind of interesting that Ensign says Saxby Chambliss "absolutely must hold his seat" for the Republicans to maintain a 41 seat minority, then turns around and says he expects Chambliss to raise his own funds so the RSCC can spend its paltry funds elsewhere. That's the new Republican support concept -- we like you but you're on your own. They've been pushing the same concept in health care, jobs and education for a while now and it's finally percolated up to their own campaigns. Sweet!
Now we need to make sure Vivian Figures can force Jeff Sessions to spend his own money in Alabama so he won't be tempted to bail out any of his buddies -- like Saxby Chambliss.
2. Cotton Mouth says McSames "Straight Talk Express" blew a tire in Baton Rouge, LA. Sam Stein reports another blow out in Nashville, TN. *Snicker*
3. When the cat is away the mice will play. The G*d D*#m GOPers' have shut down the Senate. Politco is watching the House.
McConnell has essentially shut down the Senate floor this afternoon by forcing the Senate clerk to read aloud the entire 500 page global warming bill. So if legislative language is your thing, turn on C-SPAN and watch the Senate at its best, or worst, depending on your perspective.
On APT's For the Record Friday, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks reiterated that it will take a lot of money to mount a campaign against Jeff Sessions, and "3 weeks or 3 months ago" would not have been too early to start raising that money.
Sessions is reporting a little over $3 million in his campaign kitty as of the end of June. Several political friends have opined that an opponent will need to raise $10 million to seriously challenge Sessions. That seems like a lot. Let's look at what was spent on some Senate races in 2006. The figures below are updated as of 11/9/06 and don't reflect the absolutely final totals, but they should be indicative. Incumbents are in italics.
District
Winner
Loser
Winner Spent
Loser Spent
AZS2
Jon Kyl (R)
Jim Pederson (D)
$11,515,904
$12,314,616
MDS1
Ben Cardin (D)
Michael Steele (R)
$6,178,734
$6,249,753
MNS2
Amy Klobuchar (D)
Mark Kennedy (R)
$7,383,982
$8,653,298
MOS2
Claire McCaskill (D)
Jim Talent (R)
$8,475,845
$19,408,892
MTS1
Jon Tester (D)
Conrad Burns (R)
$3,798,401
$7,528,560
NES1
Ben Nelson (D)
Pete Ricketts (R)
$7,497,973
$11,302,078
OHS1
Sherrod Brown (D)
Mike DeWine (R)
$8,954,433
$11,807,805
PAS2
Bob Casey (D)
Rick Santorum (R)
$13,666,117
$24,101,782
RIS1
Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
Lincoln Chafee (R)
$4,423,607
$4,532,329
VAS1
James Webb (D)
George Allen (R)
$4,222,625
$13,435,527
VTS1
Bernie Sanders (D)
Richard Tarrant (R)
$5,390,243
$6,510,341
There is a lot of variation, with Jon Tester, Jim Webb and Sheldon Whitehouse spending less than $5 million each to defeat Republican incumbents. The price of media makes a big difference. Montana is a less expensive media market than Pennsylvania. So is Alabama. If 2008 is as good a year for Democrats as 2006 was, the right Democrat could be outspent 2 to 1 and still be neck and neck with Jeff Sessions. I think a challenger would need at least $5 million, but $10 million looks like an upper limit.
A lot of people are saying that Sessions is invincible now because of his stand against Bush on the Immigration Bill. That is BS, but Sessions wants us to believe it. In his op-ed this week, Ron Sparks showed the way to turn that issue back on Jeff Sessions. The fact is most of the people who are lauding Sessions are actually mad as hell about the immigration situation we have today. Sessions' action last month means a continuation of the status quo and the immigration problem will continue to grow.
As Sparks said "... he must believe that it is ok for an elected official to boast about how he single handedly defeated an immigration bill because it was a bad bill. I believe that if you have a bad bill, and have the votes to kill it, then you also have the votes to amend it and make it work." The illegal imimigrant issue is crying out for a voter education program from Democrats. Who benefits from the status quo? Not average Americans. Not illegal workers. Whose bidding was Jeff Sessions doing when he killed the Immigration Bill?
Democrats need to learn to do that Rove thing -- attack at your enemy's strength. Sessions as the Immigration White Knight is vulnerable to a smart candidate who points out that the status quo is the problem, not the solution.
T.H.E. Social Work Agency Adoption home studies & care management services in the North Alabama area.
Licensed, certified, caring social workers. blog advertising is good for you
