Category Archives: Senate Republicans

December 17, 2010 · 2:36 PM

Stewart Dedicates Last Show Of 2010 Entirely To 9/11 First Responders Bill

Ya gotta love this guy…

Huffington Post

Thursday night marked the final “Daily Show” of the year — and the decade — and Jon Stewart devoted the entire program discussing something near to his heart: the 9/11 First Responders Bill.

Stewart has probably done more segments this year on the legislation known as the Zadroga Bill than any other topic. The bill would provide $7 billion in benefits for those who first responded on 9/11 and are now experiencing subsequent health problems such as cancer and respiratory disease. While it passed the House, Republicans have blocked the bill from advancing in the Senate.

Stewart noted that, while the 9/11 first responders bill is stuck, Congress did manage to pass the controversial tax bill that will extend tax cuts to everyone including the super wealthy.

“Yes!” Stewart exclaimed. “That is astoundingly good news for firefighters who make over $200,000 a year.”

Nearly pulling his hair out at one point, Stewart expressed his annoyance at “the party that turned 9/11 into a catchphrase” now blocking legislation to help its heroes. Adding to his frustration, none of the three major networks have covered the story in over two months. Surprisingly, Stewart realized this was actually a job for Fox News, “the nation’s leading source of 9/11-based outrage.”   More…

Part 1:  http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-16-2010/worst-responders

Part 2:  http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-december-16-2010/9-11-first-responders-react-to-the-senate-filibuster

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· 2:30 PM

It’s A Done Deal!

Tax Bill Headed To President’s Desk After Passage In House

Huffington Post

A coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats combined to push the Obama-GOP tax-cut deal through the House by a vote of 277-148 in Friday’s early morning hours. The bill slashes the estate tax, extends all the Bush tax cuts and reauthorizes unemployment insurance for 13 months. The bill will now go to the president for his signature.

The crucial vote was not on final passage of the tax cuts, but on the vote before, to reduce the generosity of the estate tax cut. Had it been included in the final measure, the bill would have gone back to the Senate. An identical version of that amendment passed in December 2009 with 225 votes, but it failed this time 233-194, with 60 Democrats voting against tightening the estate tax.   More…

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Filed under President Barack Obama, Senate Dems, Senate Republicans, Tax Cuts For The Wealthy

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November 20, 2010 · 4:06 AM

Why Mitch McConnell is worse than Charles Rangel

Salon

Both men misused their power — but the Senate leader gave corrupt BAE Systems $17 million in 2010 earmarks

On the same day that the House Ethics Committee convicted Rep. Charles Rangel of nearly a dozen violations of congressional rules, Sen. Mitch McConnell announced that under pressure from fellow Republicans, he will surrender his beloved earmarks. This is a notable coincidence because, like Rangel, McConnell has rewarded corporate donors to an academic center named after him — and used earmarks for that purpose. The top corporate recipient of earmarks from the Kentucky Republican in the 2010 budget not only happens to be a donor to the McConnell Center for Political Leadership at the University of Louisville, but one of the largest and most corrupt defense contractors in the world.

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Filed under GOP, GOP Agenda, GOP Corruption, GOP Greed, GOP Hubris, Mitch McConnell, Senate Republicans

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November 4, 2010 · 5:58 PM

GOP senators fight over failure

Let the games begin!

Politico

Long-simmering tensions within the Republican Party spilled into public view Wednesday as the pragmatic and conservative wings of the GOP blamed each other in blunt terms for the party’s failure to capture the Senate.

With tea party-backed candidates going down in Delaware, Colorado and Nevada, depriving Republicans of what would have been a 50-50 Senate, a bloc of prominent senators and operatives said party purists like Sarah Palin and Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) had foolishly pushed nominees too conservative to win in politically competitive states.

Movement conservatives pointed the finger right back at the establishment, accusing the National Republican Senatorial Committee of squandering millions on a California race that wasn’t close at the expense of offering additional aid in places like Colorado, Nevada and Washington state, where Democratic Sen. Patty Murray holds a narrow lead as the votes continue to be counted.

The back-and-forth following an otherwise triumphant election amounted to a significant ratcheting up of the internecine battle that has been taking place within the GOP for the past year.

“Candidates matter,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “It was a good night for Republicans but it could have been a better one. We left some on the table.”

Referring to the debate within the right about whether the party was better off losing the Delaware seat than winning with a moderate Republican like Rep. Mike Castle, who lost the GOP primary to Christine O’Donnell, Graham was even more blunt.

“If you think what happened in Delaware is ‘a win’ for the Republican Party then we don’t have a snowball’s chance to win the White House,” he said. “If you think Delaware was a wake-up call for Republicans than we have shot at doing well for a long time.”Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott put it plainly: “We did not nominate our strongest candidates.”Had Republicans run Castle in Delaware and establishment favorites Sue Lowden in Nevada and Jane Norton in Colorado, Lott said, Tuesday would have turned out different.“With those three we would have won and been sitting at 50 [senators],” he observed.

Read more…

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October 11, 2010 · 10:01 AM

The Fifteen Craziest Senate Candidates

The Daily Beast

In a crazy campaign season, who’s craziest of all? The Daily Beast, using its Election Oracle and 9 other factors, discovers the 15 Senate candidates scoring highest on our new Wingnut Index.

Somehow, 2010 has turned out to be the year of the Wingnut. An unprecedented array of far out—and mostly far-right—candidates have won closed partisan primaries and now have a real shot at entering the nation’s most deliberative body—the Senate. But how can we quantify the crazy?

In the spirit of rankings that determine candidates’ ideological or special-interest adherence, we have come up with our own Wingnut Index as a way of measuring the extremism of Senate candidates this year. (Subsequent rankings of congressional and gubernatorial candidates will be coming every Monday until the election.) The 15 Senate candidates who earned enough points to grab top slots on the Wingnut Index reflect roughly one-quarter of the total candidates running this year—a fair measure of the extremes’ influence on our politics today.

The 15 Highest-Ranked Wingnuts

In the 10 areas measured, we have reached for binary criteria whenever possible, such as whether the candidate subscribes to the conspiracy theories of being a “birther” or a 9/11 truther, or whether they have compared their political opponents to either Nazis or communists. Evidence of either Bush Derangement Syndrome or Obama Derangement Syndrome was included in the general category of fearmongering.

Hyper-partisan, special-interest-driven voting records were taken into account when possible—for example, candidates who received a 100 percent rating from the Family Research Council or a 100 percent rating from what could be considered their opposite interest group on the left, the AFS ratings by the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees. (In the interest of full disclosure, Barbara Boxer’s 99 rating was rounded up for inclusion.)

Continue reading…

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Filed under GOP, GOP Agenda, GOP Folly, GOP Leadership Quagmire, Senate '10, Senate Dems, Senate Republicans, Tea Party, Tea Party Nuts

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October 1, 2010 · 4:34 PM

Extending Bush Tax cuts Adds $700 Billion to Deficit

Yep, $700 billion additional dollars to the deficit! 

The White House has released a very easy and simple explanation about the tax cut fight in congress.

Remember, the Republicans will not even discuss the tax cuts for small businesses unless the Dems include the Bush tax cuts for the rich in their plan…

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Filed under GOP Agenda, GOP Greed, GOP Hubris, GOP Hypocrisy, GOP Lies, GOP Obstructionism, Senate '10, Senate Dems, Senate Republicans

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September 23, 2010 · 2:41 AM

Outgoing senators give exit interviews to NBC News (Video)

MSNBC 

Unlikely friendships
When partisanship blankets Washington and gridlock reigns, senators say that personal relationships across the aisle are a fundamental element of how the chamber works.  

The late Sen. Kennedy was named often by the Republicans as someone they liked to work with on legislation. 

No one knew Kennedy better and learned more from him about the power of personal relationships than Sen. Chris Dodd. He served with Kennedy for 30 years, and the two were as close as brothers. When Republicans held the majority, Kennedy’s uncanny ability to charm GOP senators into bipartisan deals flummoxed Republican leaders, Dodd said. 

More… 

 

 

 

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· 2:32 AM

Sharron Angle Slams Mandated Health Care Coverage For Autism Treatment, Maternity Leave (VIDEO)

What boggles the mind here is how there is at least 30% of  people who vote that agree with Sharron Angle, Sarah Palin, Rand Paul and Samantha…uh…I mean Christine O’Donnell on the issue of repealing Health Care Reform.  I guess my point of view as a human being who cares about others who may be suffering financially, physically or emotionally, is why not let the government help where help is needed most?   The right feels that everything should be left to the free market to take care of and that eventually, the less fortunate will reap benefits from the “trickling down” of money to address their needs.

Excuse me, but we’ve tried that, under conservative majority rule for over thirty years, since Reagan’s presidency and today, we are STILL feeling the effect of the “free market theory” espoused by conservatives.

The tea partiers and conservative ‘populous’ have bought and been sold a bogus plan that only helps the top 3% of this country.  That would be, the wealthiest Americans.  Many of those viewers and listeners of Fox and Limbaugh are fighting against their own economic interests and it boggles my mind…

Huffington Post

Speaking at a Tea Party rally last year, Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharron Angle appeared to mock the notion that health care coverage for autism treatment and maternity leave should be mandated.

“Take off the mandates for coverage in the state of Nevada and all over the United States,” she charged in making remarks that were captured on camera and now are being circulated by the Nevada State Democratic Party. “You know what I’m talking about. You’re paying for things that you don’t even need. They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under ‘autism’.”

In video shot of Angle making the criticism, she can be seen making air quotes as she says “autism.”

The Tea Party darling went on to say, “So, that’s a mandate that you have to pay for. How about maternity leave? I’m not going to have anymore babies, but I sure get to pay for it on my insurance. Those are the kinds of things that we want to get rid of.”

Nevada-based station My News 4 reports:

Her comments regarding autism coverage refer to Assembly Bill 162, which passed with sweeping bipartisan support in the Nevada Legislature in 2009. Only two Nevada legislators voted no on the bill: Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa, Churchill, Esmeralda, Lincoln, Mineral, Nye counties, and AssemblymanDon Gustavson, R-Sparks, Humboldt, Lander, Washoe counties. The bill passed 60-2 in both houses with one legislator absent.

The Las Vegas Sun first reported on the clip of Angle’s comments coming to light on Wednesday.

Angle is vying to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in November. The four-term incumbent’s camp didn’t hold back in reacting to the matter.

Story continues below

In a statement, Reid campaign spokesman Kelly Steele said, “Sharron Angle’s extreme and dangerous agenda for Nevada has included some exceptionally callous rhetoric, including calling out-of-work Nevadans ‘spoiled’ by unemployment benefits and saying that rape victims should ‘make lemons into lemonade’ by having their attacker’s child, but mocking those suffering with autism – and in fact scapegoating their coverage for our nation’s current health care woes – is exceptionally cruel and represents a new low, even for Sharron Angle.”

WATCH: Angle Slams Mandated Health Care Coverage For Autism Treatment, Maternity Leave

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September 17, 2010 · 1:56 AM

The Nevada dogfight: Reid blasts Angle as “crazy”

The Plum Line

This new ad from Harry Reid, hitting back at an earlier spot from Sharron Angle blasting him over immigration, is the clearest indication yet of what a brutal dogfight the Nevada Senate race has become:

Reid’s ad is a response to the Angle spot earlier this week that declared Reid “the best friend an illegal alien ever had.”

Reid has come out in support of immigration reform, part of an effort to boost the Latino turnout that will be critical to his chances, but the Reid camp’s swift response to the Angle spot illustrates how lethal the politics of illegal immigration remain.

Also note the spot’s quick pivot at the end back to one of the core issues in the race: Angle’s suggestion of phasing out Social Security. And: After hinting at it for weeks by characterizing Angle as “extreme and dangerous,” for the first time, the Reid campaign has come right out and used the word “crazy.”

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September 14, 2010 · 7:31 AM

Tea Party Insurgent Aims to Oust Well Funded Foe in Delaware Primary

Well, it looks like Christine O’Donnell, the right wing ”darling” of the Tea Party movement who faces opponent Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican primary today, may have a fighting chance of upsetting the 17 year House Veteran’s chances of winning the primary this time around. According to reports, O’Donnell, who has been endorsed by Sarah Palin, Jim DeMint and conservative groups stands a good chance of upsetting the status quo…

US News & World Report

Long time Rep. Mike Castle faces strong challenge from underfunded conservative Christine O’Donnell

Predictions are flying about the likelihood of the House and Senate changing hands in November’s midterm elections. But before parties can plan their agendas for the next congressional session, their candidates first have to make it through their primaries. After Tuesday, the last big day of the 2010 primary season, nearly all of the nominees for the general election will be chosen. Altogether, voters in seven states plus the District of Columbia will on Tuesday finalize their November ballots for 61 House seats, six Senate seats, and six gubernatorial races. Only the Hawaii primary and a House runoff primary in Louisiana will remain after this.

The Republican Senate primary in Delaware is perhaps Tuesday’s most-anticipated contest. In what is becoming a common trend this election season, Rep. Mike Castle, a 17-year House veteran, will face a challenge from the right in Tea Party-backed political commentator Christine O’Donnell. The Tea Party’s surprise victory in Alaska, where Joe Miller upset Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the August Republican Senate primary, spurred the movement to focus on O’Donnell’s bid, which was until very recently viewed as a longshot. Supporters of the fledgling conservative movement are hoping that, with O’Donnell, they can yet again defeat an establishment Republican.    Continue reading…

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